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4.    <title>All Updates, All Sites</title>
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9.      <title>#iris #purple #white #flowers #nature #newengland #wallingfordct...</title>
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11.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/f6c1b286ccc95f8fb22ade456d71a954/tumblr_ps8ez6MOWs1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#iris #purple #white #flowers #nature #newengland #wallingfordct #connecticut  #hasselbladmotomod  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
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29.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2c45857f4868c72dac9d7d52c3a2a25f/tumblr_prtez8qKzB1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#gothic #rose #pendant #necklace #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom #forsale  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
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44.      <dc:date>2019-05-20T18:21:08Z</dc:date>
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49.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/6b03a520292dd700c2aaa5e988d04763/tumblr_prgc1kQixH1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#dead #unicorn #skeleton #gothic #brooch #pin  #silver #gears #filigree #victorian #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom #forsale #ooak (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
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75.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184831364671</link>
76.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/baac438f4d076c61c769e54bfb78a8e4/tumblr_preol9YCwz1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#dead #unicorn #skeleton #hairclip #hairart #filigree #victorian #gothic #silver #handcrafted #imadethis #craft #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom #beadsbybertabird #forsale #ooak  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
77. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BxX8YMRDHhn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1e0s4y7rjdj95"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BxX8YMRDHhn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1e0s4y7rjdj95&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
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85.      <category>gothic</category>
86.      <category>silver</category>
87.      <category>handcrafted</category>
88.      <category>imadethis</category>
89.      <category>craft</category>
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92.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
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95.      <pubDate>Sun, 12 May 2019 19:24:45 GMT</pubDate>
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100.      <title>#timemachine #rings #steampunk #timemachines #gears #filigree...</title>
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102.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/03222ec966672bee4daca3c2ddd8d477/tumblr_pqxtzhYc881rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#timemachine #rings #steampunk #timemachines #gears #filigree #adjustable #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom #beadsbybertabird #forsale (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
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105.      <category>rings</category>
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108.      <category>gears</category>
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110.      <category>adjustable</category>
111.      <category>craft</category>
112.      <category>handcrafted</category>
113.      <category>imadethis</category>
114.      <category>bybertabird</category>
115.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
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117.      <category>forsale</category>
118.      <pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2019 17:02:05 GMT</pubDate>
119.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184623984651</guid>
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125.      <description>&lt;blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-thfGDD_1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 400px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"&gt;&lt;div style="padding:16px;"&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-thfGDD_1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"&gt; &lt;div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"&gt; &lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; 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&lt;div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"&gt;View this post on Instagram&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: 8px;"&gt; &lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="margin-left: auto;"&gt; &lt;div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"&gt; &lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-thfGDD_1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank"&gt;A post shared by Bert Gevera Piedmont (@theonlymissbert)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
126. <script async src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><br/><br/><p>#fish #goldfish #koi #shubunkin #comet #fishpond #koipond #pondlife #pond #water #nature  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)<br/>
127. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-thfGDD_1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=14a4xws1b7ul9"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-thfGDD_1/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=14a4xws1b7ul9&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
128.      <category>fish</category>
129.      <category>goldfish</category>
130.      <category>koi</category>
131.      <category>shubunkin</category>
132.      <category>comet</category>
133.      <category>fishpond</category>
134.      <category>koipond</category>
135.      <category>pondlife</category>
136.      <category>pond</category>
137.      <category>water</category>
138.      <category>nature</category>
139.      <pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2019 00:14:22 GMT</pubDate>
140.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184609292581</guid>
141.      <dc:date>2019-05-03T00:14:22Z</dc:date>
142.    </item>
143.    <item>
144.      <title>#steampunk #mechanical #cat #keychain #doublesided #forsale...</title>
145.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184609181966</link>
146.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/73f1a2e39d1b705dd0d31642d24c3f26/tumblr_pqwj29xcjx1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#steampunk #mechanical #cat #keychain #doublesided #forsale #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
147. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-s6ANjx2P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1wa5l0aiek0dk"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw-s6ANjx2P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1wa5l0aiek0dk&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
148.      <category>steampunk</category>
149.      <category>mechanical</category>
150.      <category>cat</category>
151.      <category>keychain</category>
152.      <category>doublesided</category>
153.      <category>forsale</category>
154.      <category>craft</category>
155.      <category>handcrafted</category>
156.      <category>imadethis</category>
157.      <category>bybertabird</category>
158.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
159.      <pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2019 00:08:33 GMT</pubDate>
160.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184609181966</guid>
161.      <dc:date>2019-05-03T00:08:33Z</dc:date>
162.    </item>
163.    <item>
164.      <title>#peekaboo #frog #amphibian #frogsofinstagram...</title>
165.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184397934626</link>
166.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/0712aefe3e390aa76241514a70b1c779/tumblr_pqfoxakksa1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#peekaboo #frog #amphibian #frogsofinstagram #amphibiansofinstagram #pond #pondlife #nature #newengland #connecticut #hasselbladmotomod (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
167. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnSlQjDDe_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1mugubmjl1k8n"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnSlQjDDe_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1mugubmjl1k8n&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
168.      <category>peekaboo</category>
169.      <category>frog</category>
170.      <category>amphibian</category>
171.      <category>frogsofinstagram</category>
172.      <category>amphibiansofinstagram</category>
173.      <category>pond</category>
174.      <category>pondlife</category>
175.      <category>nature</category>
176.      <category>newengland</category>
177.      <category>connecticut</category>
178.      <category>hasselbladmotomod</category>
179.      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2019 21:55:58 GMT</pubDate>
180.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184397934626</guid>
181.      <dc:date>2019-04-23T21:55:58Z</dc:date>
182.    </item>
183.    <item>
184.      <title>#steampunk #brooch #pin #gothic #black #skull #crow #flower...</title>
185.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184397821341</link>
186.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a84c6df74314c0480b5da2ca3fe414d8/tumblr_pqfonptbW31rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#steampunk #brooch #pin #gothic #black #skull #crow #flower #crowskull  #filigree #victorian #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom #forsale #ooak (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
187. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnR7G9DziF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=voo3a702pkkv"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwnR7G9DziF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=voo3a702pkkv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
188.      <category>steampunk</category>
189.      <category>brooch</category>
190.      <category>pin</category>
191.      <category>gothic</category>
192.      <category>black</category>
193.      <category>skull</category>
194.      <category>crow</category>
195.      <category>flower</category>
196.      <category>crowskull</category>
197.      <category>filigree</category>
198.      <category>victorian</category>
199.      <category>craft</category>
200.      <category>handcrafted</category>
201.      <category>imadethis</category>
202.      <category>bybertabird</category>
203.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
204.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
205.      <category>forsale</category>
206.      <category>ooak</category>
207.      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2019 21:50:13 GMT</pubDate>
208.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184397821341</guid>
209.      <dc:date>2019-04-23T21:50:13Z</dc:date>
210.    </item>
211.    <item>
212.      <title>#greenfrog #frog #amphibians #fauna #nature #pond #pondlife...</title>
213.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184298146981</link>
214.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/52b1230f250d2df6d6513a9b826dca1b/tumblr_pq7wdwyJSE1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#greenfrog #frog #amphibians #fauna #nature #pond #pondlife #connecticut #newengland #spring  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
215. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcdHO9Dg9Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=kczl3mu6fwjt"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcdHO9Dg9Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=kczl3mu6fwjt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
216.      <category>greenfrog</category>
217.      <category>frog</category>
218.      <category>amphibians</category>
219.      <category>fauna</category>
220.      <category>nature</category>
221.      <category>pond</category>
222.      <category>pondlife</category>
223.      <category>connecticut</category>
224.      <category>newengland</category>
225.      <category>spring</category>
226.      <pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2019 16:56:20 GMT</pubDate>
227.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184298146981</guid>
228.      <dc:date>2019-04-19T16:56:20Z</dc:date>
229.    </item>
230.    <item>
231.      <title>#daffodils #spring #flowers #connecticut #newengland #nature...</title>
232.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184298110661</link>
233.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a03da4164d3a56c3e4e7443beaf73e74/tumblr_pq7wan2gWX1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#daffodils #spring #flowers #connecticut #newengland #nature #flora #hasselbladmotomod  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
234. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwcc4wsjgGW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=111nyvvmlasn4"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwcc4wsjgGW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=111nyvvmlasn4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
235.      <category>daffodils</category>
236.      <category>spring</category>
237.      <category>flowers</category>
238.      <category>connecticut</category>
239.      <category>newengland</category>
240.      <category>nature</category>
241.      <category>flora</category>
242.      <category>hasselbladmotomod</category>
243.      <pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2019 16:54:23 GMT</pubDate>
244.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184298110661</guid>
245.      <dc:date>2019-04-19T16:54:23Z</dc:date>
246.    </item>
247.    <item>
248.      <title>#vendor #etsy #handmade #mothersday #mothersdaygifts  (at...</title>
249.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184294105816</link>
250.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/2301224df068f988b7dd667cc402d019/tumblr_pq7lkqqlzO1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#vendor #etsy #handmade #mothersday #mothersdaygifts  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
251. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcCY6ej4zd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=r9pgwv36wqlv"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcCY6ej4zd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=r9pgwv36wqlv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
252.      <category>vendor</category>
253.      <category>etsy</category>
254.      <category>handmade</category>
255.      <category>mothersday</category>
256.      <category>mothersdaygifts</category>
257.      <pubDate>Fri, 19 Apr 2019 13:02:50 GMT</pubDate>
258.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184294105816</guid>
259.      <dc:date>2019-04-19T13:02:50Z</dc:date>
260.    </item>
261.    <item>
262.      <title>#greenfrog #frog #pond #pondlife #hasselbladmotomod #amphibians...</title>
263.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184253061966</link>
264.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/7910baf759968fb4ebd717e282527bb1/tumblr_pq49dcuv2w1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#greenfrog #frog #pond #pondlife #hasselbladmotomod #amphibians #nature #connecticut #newengland #spring #wildlife #nofilter #opticalzoom  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
265. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXZPgDjem0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1fs1jgkyli203"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXZPgDjem0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1fs1jgkyli203&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
266.      <category>greenfrog</category>
267.      <category>frog</category>
268.      <category>pond</category>
269.      <category>pondlife</category>
270.      <category>hasselbladmotomod</category>
271.      <category>amphibians</category>
272.      <category>nature</category>
273.      <category>connecticut</category>
274.      <category>newengland</category>
275.      <category>spring</category>
276.      <category>wildlife</category>
277.      <category>nofilter</category>
278.      <category>opticalzoom</category>
279.      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2019 17:46:24 GMT</pubDate>
280.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184253061966</guid>
281.      <dc:date>2019-04-17T17:46:24Z</dc:date>
282.    </item>
283.    <item>
284.      <title>#whiterabbit #aliceinwonderland #keychain #bagcharm #bybertabird...</title>
285.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184252996031</link>
286.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/c78396e0e469e74afd5b3d4b586d51cf/tumblr_pq497ash351rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#whiterabbit #aliceinwonderland #keychain #bagcharm #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom #imadethis #forsale (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
287. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXY1bRDL4Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1ihet9wc0xd0q"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXY1bRDL4Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1ihet9wc0xd0q&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
288.      <category>whiterabbit</category>
289.      <category>aliceinwonderland</category>
290.      <category>keychain</category>
291.      <category>bagcharm</category>
292.      <category>bybertabird</category>
293.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
294.      <category>imadethis</category>
295.      <category>forsale</category>
296.      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2019 17:42:46 GMT</pubDate>
297.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184252996031</guid>
298.      <dc:date>2019-04-17T17:42:46Z</dc:date>
299.    </item>
300.    <item>
301.      <title>#toad #witch #widow #wizard #easterbunny...</title>
302.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184252960861</link>
303.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/38e955d4360465bb1a69c4ff88018b8c/tumblr_pq493ukseD1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#toad #witch #widow #wizard #easterbunny #toadallytransformedtoad #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom #forsale #imadethis  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
304. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXYmV2Ddom/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1gb42alwtkbr7"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BwXYmV2Ddom/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1gb42alwtkbr7&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
305.      <category>toad</category>
306.      <category>witch</category>
307.      <category>widow</category>
308.      <category>wizard</category>
309.      <category>easterbunny</category>
310.      <category>toadallytransformedtoad</category>
311.      <category>bybertabird</category>
312.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
313.      <category>forsale</category>
314.      <category>imadethis</category>
315.      <pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2019 17:40:42 GMT</pubDate>
316.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/184252960861</guid>
317.      <dc:date>2019-04-17T17:40:42Z</dc:date>
318.    </item>
319.    <item>
320.      <title>#steampunk #brooch #pin #cat #catinthehat #copper #gears #gems...</title>
321.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/183523471766</link>
322.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/95030187c87d5708d33d0d3579c26dab/tumblr_poiytzmwk41rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#steampunk #brooch #pin #cat #catinthehat #copper #gears #gems #filigree #victorian #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom #forsale #ooak (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
323. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BvHu0I8jJ1c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1rl3ybn6b1omi"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BvHu0I8jJ1c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=1rl3ybn6b1omi&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
324.      <category>steampunk</category>
325.      <category>brooch</category>
326.      <category>pin</category>
327.      <category>cat</category>
328.      <category>catinthehat</category>
329.      <category>copper</category>
330.      <category>gears</category>
331.      <category>gems</category>
332.      <category>filigree</category>
333.      <category>victorian</category>
334.      <category>craft</category>
335.      <category>handcrafted</category>
336.      <category>imadethis</category>
337.      <category>bybertabird</category>
338.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
339.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
340.      <category>forsale</category>
341.      <category>ooak</category>
342.      <pubDate>Sun, 17 Mar 2019 19:15:35 GMT</pubDate>
343.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/183523471766</guid>
344.      <dc:date>2019-03-17T19:15:35Z</dc:date>
345.    </item>
346.    <item>
347.      <title>#sexy #vampire #toad #forsale #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom...</title>
348.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/183278182631</link>
349.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/a3b69d0de231c5a549657d65f83147b1/tumblr_pnz1q4QM3k1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#sexy #vampire #toad #forsale #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom #imadethis with @punjabipeacock #toadallytransformedtoad  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
350. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BusCLhnDUb5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=18b5qjg9a8opt"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BusCLhnDUb5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=18b5qjg9a8opt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
351.      <category>sexy</category>
352.      <category>vampire</category>
353.      <category>toad</category>
354.      <category>forsale</category>
355.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
356.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
357.      <category>imadethis</category>
358.      <category>toadallytransformedtoad</category>
359.      <pubDate>Thu, 07 Mar 2019 01:06:04 GMT</pubDate>
360.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/183278182631</guid>
361.      <dc:date>2019-03-07T01:06:04Z</dc:date>
362.    </item>
363.    <item>
364.      <title>#toad #toads #skeletoads  #skeletontoad #bat #widow #steampunk...</title>
365.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/182436721046</link>
366.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec2cb6874c63455da8bd74fff8a68690/tumblr_pm67dt1fOO1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#toad #toads #skeletoads  #skeletontoad #bat #widow #steampunk #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom #beadsbybertabird #forsale helpers: @punjabipeacock #toadstylist @needlefeltedfuzzies #babybat (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
367. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BtR3t_kDuzq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=otbpmpwm44cu"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BtR3t_kDuzq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=otbpmpwm44cu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
368.      <category>toad</category>
369.      <category>toads</category>
370.      <category>skeletoads</category>
371.      <category>skeletontoad</category>
372.      <category>bat</category>
373.      <category>widow</category>
374.      <category>steampunk</category>
375.      <category>handcrafted</category>
376.      <category>imadethis</category>
377.      <category>bybertabird</category>
378.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
379.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
380.      <category>forsale</category>
381.      <category>toadstylist</category>
382.      <category>babybat</category>
383.      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2019 00:44:17 GMT</pubDate>
384.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/182436721046</guid>
385.      <dc:date>2019-01-31T00:44:17Z</dc:date>
386.    </item>
387.    <item>
388.      <title>All 20 Daysign Pages are Finished</title>
389.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7592387</link>
390.      <description>The pages for all 20 of the daysigns are live.</description>
391.      <pubDate>Tue, 18 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
392.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7592387</guid>
393.      <dc:date>2018-12-18T00:00:00Z</dc:date>
394.    </item>
395.    <item>
396.      <title>Calendar Articles added</title>
397.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7591790</link>
398.      <description>All the articles formerly included in the print and Kindle versions of the yearly calendar are now online!</description>
399.      <pubDate>Thu, 13 Dec 2018 01:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
400.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7591790</guid>
401.      <dc:date>2018-12-13T01:00:00Z</dc:date>
402.    </item>
403.    <item>
404.      <title>#steampunk #timemachine #timemachines #pendant #gears #quartz...</title>
405.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/180920461446</link>
406.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/eac6e91a0e8de27c231e036f4f29442f/tumblr_pjf705MiqV1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#steampunk #timemachine #timemachines #pendant #gears #quartz #glass #crystals #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #bertabirddotcom #beadsbybertabird #forsale (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
407. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BrIM-6kDqM8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=k21k19xvv235"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BrIM-6kDqM8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=k21k19xvv235&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
408.      <category>steampunk</category>
409.      <category>timemachine</category>
410.      <category>timemachines</category>
411.      <category>pendant</category>
412.      <category>gears</category>
413.      <category>quartz</category>
414.      <category>glass</category>
415.      <category>crystals</category>
416.      <category>craft</category>
417.      <category>handcrafted</category>
418.      <category>imadethis</category>
419.      <category>bybertabird</category>
420.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
421.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
422.      <category>forsale</category>
423.      <pubDate>Sat, 08 Dec 2018 13:33:41 GMT</pubDate>
424.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/180920461446</guid>
425.      <dc:date>2018-12-08T13:33:41Z</dc:date>
426.    </item>
427.    <item>
428.      <title>#steampunk #brooch #pin #mermaid #dragon #fish #scales  ...</title>
429.      <link>https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/180897362561</link>
430.      <description>&lt;img src="https://64.media.tumblr.com/96b84515c0a49dd1430cdfd289b808dd/tumblr_pjdr1lwQ1j1rmnnqwo1_500.jpg"/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;#steampunk #brooch #pin #mermaid #dragon #fish #scales   #infinity #silver #filigree #craft #handcrafted #imadethis #bybertabird #beadsbybertabird #bertabirddotcom #forsale #ooakbarbie  (at Wallingford, Connecticut)&lt;br/&gt;
431. &lt;a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BrGMarvDG_5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=nxny4av5wv9n"&gt;https://www.instagram.com/p/BrGMarvDG_5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&amp;igshid=nxny4av5wv9n&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
432.      <category>steampunk</category>
433.      <category>brooch</category>
434.      <category>pin</category>
435.      <category>mermaid</category>
436.      <category>dragon</category>
437.      <category>fish</category>
438.      <category>scales</category>
439.      <category>infinity</category>
440.      <category>silver</category>
441.      <category>filigree</category>
442.      <category>craft</category>
443.      <category>handcrafted</category>
444.      <category>imadethis</category>
445.      <category>bybertabird</category>
446.      <category>beadsbybertabird</category>
447.      <category>bertabirddotcom</category>
448.      <category>forsale</category>
449.      <category>ooakbarbie</category>
450.      <pubDate>Fri, 07 Dec 2018 18:51:21 GMT</pubDate>
451.      <guid isPermaLink="false">https://toad-purse.tumblr.com/post/180897362561</guid>
452.      <dc:date>2018-12-07T18:51:21Z</dc:date>
453.    </item>
454.    <item>
455.      <title>The Mayan Calendar is not ending June 3-4, 2016</title>
456.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-mayan-calendar-is-not-ending-june-3.html</link>
457.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcnOTlLSriQ/V0-O4kDMiDI/AAAAAAAANKw/8fSBqnm6iuEhEhODSEeMieMtmzU8zw1BACK4B/s72-c/newLCCending_screenshot.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
458.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
459.      <content:encoded>&lt;a href="http://www.indiatimes.com/news/weird/scholars-release-the-latest-date-for-apocalypse-june-3-4-2016_-255927.html" target="_blank"&gt;This terrible article&lt;/a&gt; claims that “scholars” have released the REAL Mayan calendar end date and it’s June 3 or 4, because leap years!&amp;nbsp; (full screen print below; don't reward ignorance with clicks and page views)&lt;br /&gt;Can we just stop it?&lt;br /&gt;An actual expert is quoted, and he says actual correct things about the Long Count, and notice that no where in his statement does he say that erroneous leap-year based calculations cause the end to change:&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: blue;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;courier new&amp;quot; , &amp;quot;courier&amp;quot; , monospace;"&gt;“As far as we know, the people of Mesoamerica, the Maya included, didn’t care about leap years,” Anthony Aveni, an expert in ancient Mesoamerican astronomy at Colgate University told the National Geographic.&lt;br /&gt;“Our philosophy about leap year is a complicated scheme to make the seasons jibe with the calendar,” Aveni said. “They were more concerned that time should be unbroken, not interfered with, and that the count of time should have continuity.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Exactly. The Long Count Calendar counts DAYS.&amp;nbsp; It doesn’t count years.&amp;nbsp; It doesn’t care about leap years.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Even if you assume that the Long Count is only 13 Baktuns long (I’m not in that group, but I respect the thinking of those who are; 20 Baktuns makes way more sense to me)…it’s still way past 13 Baktuns.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The new chosen date, June 3, 2016, is 13.0.3.9.0 3-Zotz 3-Ahau.&amp;nbsp; Ahau is indeed the end of a cycle—a 20 day one.&amp;nbsp; Every &lt;b&gt;20 days&lt;/b&gt; there’s an Ahau date.&lt;br /&gt;Notice that the Long Count date starts with 13.&amp;nbsp; That’s because Baktun 13 started in 2012, right on schedule, 1,872,000 days after it began.&amp;nbsp; It doesn’t matter if you correlate it with the Jewish calendar, the Islamic calendar, the Egyptian calendar (which the article does mention, who knows why).&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;It counts DAYS not YEARS and it is not a solar calendar.&amp;nbsp; A day is a day is a day.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The correlation between the Mayan calendars and the Gregorian calendar (our calendar) changes by a day every leap year (that’s why it’s so hard to calculate).&lt;br /&gt;(Also, the concept of a "leap year" wasn't invented until 45 BC, 3000+ years after the beginning of the Long Count.)&lt;br /&gt;Dragging the 365-day Haab calendar into the mix is just obfuscation and ignorance (and the Haab also doesn’t have leap years).&amp;nbsp; The Haab isn’t contained within the structure of the Long Count the way the Tzolkin is and doesn’t synch up with it.&amp;nbsp; Instead, the Long Count has the Tun period, which is 18 20-day Uinal periods to approximate a year. &lt;b&gt;But again, the point of the Long Count was to count DAYS not YEARS.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; It’s an odometer where most sections are 0-19 (except the Tun, which is 0-17), created by people who used base-20 instead of base-10.&lt;br /&gt;Bringing in a Western astrology chart is also obfuscation, because Western and Mesoamerican astrology are not related in any way.&lt;br /&gt;The 1260 day difference is because… it’s been 1260 days since 13.0.0.0.0.&lt;br /&gt;Stop spreading lies through ignorance, please.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcnOTlLSriQ/V0-O4kDMiDI/AAAAAAAANKw/8fSBqnm6iuEhEhODSEeMieMtmzU8zw1BACK4B/s1600/newLCCending_screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fcnOTlLSriQ/V0-O4kDMiDI/AAAAAAAANKw/8fSBqnm6iuEhEhODSEeMieMtmzU8zw1BACK4B/s320/newLCCending_screenshot.jpg" width="76" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
460. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
461. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
462.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">13th Baktun</category>
463.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2012</category>
464.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">calendar</category>
465.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">end of the world</category>
466.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">leap years</category>
467.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">long count</category>
468.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">long count calendar</category>
469.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan calendar</category>
470.      <pubDate>Thu, 02 Jun 2016 01:43:00 GMT</pubDate>
471.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
472.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-4049710219620915052</guid>
473.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
474.      <dc:date>2016-06-02T01:43:00Z</dc:date>
475.    </item>
476.    <item>
477.      <title>2016 Jaguar Nights Mayan-Aztec calendar now available!</title>
478.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533316</link>
479.      <description>The 2016 edition of Jaguar Nights is now available in print and Kindle format.</description>
480.      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
481.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533316</guid>
482.      <dc:date>2015-11-03T04:00:00Z</dc:date>
483.    </item>
484.    <item>
485.      <title>Custom Dreamcatchers now available!</title>
486.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533300</link>
487.      <description>Several dozen examples of unique dreamcatchers, mindfully made by a Mayan Calendar Shaman.  Some are still available, or you can commission your own web, to your specific requirements.  Positive energy infused in each one for no extra charge.</description>
488.      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2015 03:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
489.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533300</guid>
490.      <dc:date>2015-11-03T03:00:00Z</dc:date>
491.    </item>
492.    <item>
493.      <title>~FIN~  goodbye Mom</title>
494.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2015/06/fin-goodbye-mom.html</link>
495.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI31Tpo_BS4/VXyH_qYUuEI/AAAAAAAAJLc/-MwhV0qJf48/s72-c/BERTMOM.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
496.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total>
497.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI31Tpo_BS4/VXyH_qYUuEI/AAAAAAAAJLc/-MwhV0qJf48/s1600/BERTMOM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="202" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MI31Tpo_BS4/VXyH_qYUuEI/AAAAAAAAJLc/-MwhV0qJf48/s320/BERTMOM.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nY9KZIWBx4E/VXyHtO_IBJI/AAAAAAAAJLU/V8kc8n-dWEg/s1600/mom%2Bobit%2Bonline%2B1%2Bw%2Bnotes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;My mom died June 7, 2015.&amp;nbsp; Her cancer had briefly gotten a bit better in April around her 70th birthday, but then it came "roaring" (per oncologist) back over just a week, while she was undergoing chemotherapy.&amp;nbsp; The last month of her life, she couldn't eat anymore and threw up constantly.&amp;nbsp; The cancer strangled her digestive system, effectively shutting it off.&lt;br /&gt;She fainted on Memorial Day, falling and breaking her jaw and several of her teeth.&amp;nbsp; She came home from the hospital after that on TPN, IV nutrition.&amp;nbsp; An old friend of mine agreed to take my mom's elderly dog for the rest of his life so he lives with her in Rhode Island now.&amp;nbsp; He was just too much work for someone so ill.&lt;br /&gt;She was on the TPN only a few days.&amp;nbsp; Finally the doctors had hit upon the right combination of drugs to keep her from constantly vomiting.&amp;nbsp; On that last day, my husband and I were there at 2 p.m. and she was eating some Italian ice.&amp;nbsp; She said she felt a bit weak but she had her cane.&amp;nbsp; She was hardly throwing up.&amp;nbsp; She had a doctor's appointment in 2 days, to talk about putting in a feeding tube and a gastric drain (she was throwing up stomach bile, as it couldn't drain into her strangled intestines).&lt;br /&gt;I came back at 7 p.m. to hook up the IV nutrition and found her dead--she had been in the middle of putting on her pajamas.&amp;nbsp; From what I saw and what the paramedics who responded to my 911 call said, it seems like it was a sudden, instant, catastrophic event.&amp;nbsp; Stroke, heart attack, blood clot?&amp;nbsp; She did hit her head, but there was almost no blood.&amp;nbsp; The medical examiner signed off without having to autopsy her so we'll never know for sure.&lt;br /&gt;She was buried with my father's ashes, next to her parents and her mother's parents.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nY9KZIWBx4E/VXyHtO_IBJI/AAAAAAAAJLU/V8kc8n-dWEg/s1600/mom%2Bobit%2Bonline%2B1%2Bw%2Bnotes.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nY9KZIWBx4E/VXyHtO_IBJI/AAAAAAAAJLU/V8kc8n-dWEg/s320/mom%2Bobit%2Bonline%2B1%2Bw%2Bnotes.jpg" width="237" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;The eulogy I wrote:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;When I was little, sometimes my parents would leave me at my grandparents’ house for the weekend.  There, I’d get to sleep on a camp bed in the living room and the ghost of Mrs. Winters would tuck me in.  The reason I slept in the living room is because that’s where the picture of my mom was.  I’d be okay with my grandparents, until I saw that picture.  Then I would realize my mom wasn’t there with me, and I would cry and cry and hug the frame.  That’s how I feel now, every time I open Facebook and there’s my mom’s picture on my wall.  The child of 40 years ago, that still lives in me, reacts:  My mommy isn’t here!  I want my mommy!  Only now, there is no telephone to where she has gone.  No reassurances that she’ll be here tomorrow and everything is okay.  Because she won’t be here tomorrow and right now everything is not okay.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;My mom had her moments, but mostly she was generous and kind.  She adopted my friends as surrogate children.  One of my friends asked her to make a very difficult cross stitch piece.  It took her four months and all she asked for was that my friend buy the colors of embroidery floss she didn’t already have in her vast stash.  Her house is filled with quilts of all sizes and colors, items she painted, embroidery, and more.  She loved her little dog fiercely, even when his advancing age made him difficult to care for, and it broke her heart to send him to his new, final, forever home two weeks ago (where my friend is spoiling him and loving him for the rest of his life).  Her cat was always with her in her last days, on her lap or curled up on the other end of the couch, just watching her.  He lives with me now.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;My father’s long illness was horrible for all of us, but she cared for him with dignity as long as she was able and mourned him fiercely when he finally left us forever.  My grandma was a difficult woman, but my mom lived with her for years before her death and made sure she had everything she needed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;And somehow, in between caring for two sick people and making hundreds of quilts and cross-stitch pieces and painted pots, she read voraciously, swapping books with me and visiting the library almost daily as part of her long walks—up to ten miles a day when the weather was good.  People would say, “I think I saw your mom walking…” somewhere across town and I’d say “Yup, probably.”  She made many friends during those walks, people who also walked, and would join her on one leg of her journey.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;That’s what we all are, in the end.  We all walk alone, from birth to death, but people join us along the way.  My mom’s path has diverged from ours, but who is to say that it won’t connect again, somewhere on the other side of time?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;This is from King Edward VII’s eulogy:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Trebuchet MS&amp;quot;,sans-serif;"&gt;Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;I keep wanting to tell her things, so I started a &lt;a href="http://thingstotellmymom.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Tumblr&lt;/a&gt; where I can record the random things I want her to know.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
498. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
499. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
500.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cancer</category>
501.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
502.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">endings</category>
503.      <pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2015 19:46:00 GMT</pubDate>
504.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
505.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-59271018819559436</guid>
506.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
507.      <dc:date>2015-06-13T19:46:00Z</dc:date>
508.    </item>
509.    <item>
510.      <title>13.0.2.1.10 3-Muan 13-Oc; assimilation</title>
511.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/1302110-3-muan-13-oc-assimilation.html</link>
512.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
513.      <content:encoded>Saturday, January 10, 2015
514. 13.0.2.1.10  3-Muan  13-Oc  
515. Tlaloc (rain god)
516. assimilation
517. Center of Tzolkin
518. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
519. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
520. <br/>
521. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
522.      <pubDate>Sat, 10 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
523.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
524.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-1230289852134794959</guid>
525.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
526.      <dc:date>2015-01-10T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
527.    </item>
528.    <item>
529.      <title>13.0.2.1.9 2-Muan 12-Muluc; assimilation</title>
530.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130219-2-muan-12-muluc-assimilation.html</link>
531.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
532.      <content:encoded>Friday, January 09, 2015
533. 13.0.2.1.9  2-Muan  12-Muluc  
534. Tepeyollotl ("Heart of the Mountain")
535. assimilation
536. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
537. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
538. <br/>
539. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
540.      <pubDate>Fri, 09 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
541.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
542.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-3403189551930517322</guid>
543.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
544.      <dc:date>2015-01-09T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
545.    </item>
546.    <item>
547.      <title>13.0.2.1.8 1-Muan 11-Lamat; assimilation</title>
548.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130218-1-muan-11-lamat-assimilation.html</link>
549.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
550.      <content:encoded>Thursday, January 08, 2015
551. 13.0.2.1.8  1-Muan  11-Lamat
552. Tlazolteotl ("Filth Eater")
553. assimilation
554. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
555. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
556.  
557. ...<br/>
558. <br/>
559. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
560.      <pubDate>Thu, 08 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
561.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
562.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-5714656897801751654</guid>
563.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
564.      <dc:date>2015-01-08T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
565.    </item>
566.    <item>
567.      <title>13.0.2.1.7 0-Muan  10-Manik; assimilation</title>
568.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130217-0-muan-10-manik-assimilation.html</link>
569.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
570.      <content:encoded>Wednesday, January 07, 2015
571. 13.0.2.1.7  0-Muan  10-Manik  
572. Chalchihuitlicue (water goddess)
573. assimilation
574. Seating of  Muan (Owl)-Quecholli (Flamingo)
575. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights...<br/>
576. <br/>
577. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
578.      <pubDate>Wed, 07 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
579.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
580.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-7757216343305306798</guid>
581.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
582.      <dc:date>2015-01-07T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
583.    </item>
584.    <item>
585.      <title>13.0.2.1.6 19-Kankin 9-Cimi; assimilation</title>
586.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130216-19-kankin-9-cimi-assimilation.html</link>
587.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
588.      <content:encoded>Tuesday, January 06, 2015
589. 13.0.2.1.6  19-Kankin  9-Cimi
590. Mictantecutli (god of the Underworld)
591. assimilation
592. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
593. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
594. <br/>
595. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
596.      <pubDate>Tue, 06 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
597.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
598.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-1036898669356485540</guid>
599.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
600.      <dc:date>2015-01-06T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
601.    </item>
602.    <item>
603.      <title>13.0.2.1.5 18-Kankin 8-Chicchan; assimilation</title>
604.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130215-18-kankin-8-chicchan-assimilation.html</link>
605.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
606.      <content:encoded>Monday, January 05, 2015
607. 13.0.2.1.5  18-Kankin  8-Chicchan
608. Cinteotl (corn deity)
609. assimilation
610. Celebration day for  Chicchan (Snake)-Coatl (Snake)
611. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights...<br/>
612. <br/>
613. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
614.      <pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
615.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
616.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-787005575244129947</guid>
617.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
618.      <dc:date>2015-01-05T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
619.    </item>
620.    <item>
621.      <title>13.0.2.1.4 17-Kankin 7-Kan; assimilation</title>
622.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130214-17-kankin-7-kan-assimilation.html</link>
623.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
624.      <content:encoded>Sunday, January 04, 2015
625. 13.0.2.1.4  17-Kankin  7-Kan
626. Pilzintecutli (sun god)
627. assimilation
628. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
629. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
630.  
631.  Visit...<br/>
632. <br/>
633. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
634.      <pubDate>Sun, 04 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
635.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
636.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-133358533644663151</guid>
637.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
638.      <dc:date>2015-01-04T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
639.    </item>
640.    <item>
641.      <title>13.0.2.1.3 16-Kankin 6-Akbal; assimilation</title>
642.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130213-16-kankin-6-akbal-assimilation.html</link>
643.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
644.      <content:encoded>Saturday, January 03, 2015
645. 13.0.2.1.3  16-Kankin  6-Akbal  
646. Itzli ("Stone Knife")
647. assimilation
648. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
649. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
650.  
651.  Visit...<br/>
652. <br/>
653. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
654.      <pubDate>Sat, 03 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
655.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
656.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-7665753498187219684</guid>
657.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
658.      <dc:date>2015-01-03T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
659.    </item>
660.    <item>
661.      <title>13.0.2.1.2 15-Kankin 5-Ik; assimilation</title>
662.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130212-15-kankin-5-ik-assimilation.html</link>
663.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
664.      <content:encoded>Friday, January 02, 2015
665. 13.0.2.1.2  15-Kankin  5-Ik  
666. Xiuhtecutli (god of time & fire)
667. assimilation
668. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
669. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
670. <br/>
671. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
672.      <pubDate>Fri, 02 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
673.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
674.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-7828177721833899760</guid>
675.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
676.      <dc:date>2015-01-02T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
677.    </item>
678.    <item>
679.      <title>13.0.2.1.1 14-Kankin 4-Imix; assimilation</title>
680.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2015/01/130211-14-kankin-4-imix-assimilation.html</link>
681.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
682.      <content:encoded>Thursday, January 01, 2015
683. 13.0.2.1.1  14-Kankin  4-Imix  
684. Tlaloc (rain god)
685. assimilation
686. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
687. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
688.  
689.  Visit...<br/>
690. <br/>
691. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
692.      <pubDate>Thu, 01 Jan 2015 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
693.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
694.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-5592163770896482024</guid>
695.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
696.      <dc:date>2015-01-01T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
697.    </item>
698.    <item>
699.      <title>13.0.2.1.0 13-Kankin 3-Ahau; burner</title>
700.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/130210-13-kankin-3-ahau-burner.html</link>
701.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
702.      <content:encoded>Wednesday, December 31, 2014
703. 13.0.2.1.0  13-Kankin  3-Ahau
704. Tepeyollotl ("Heart of the Mountain")
705. burner
706. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
707. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
708. <br/>
709. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
710.      <pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
711.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
712.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-7853403613047156313</guid>
713.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
714.      <dc:date>2014-12-31T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
715.    </item>
716.    <item>
717.      <title>13.0.2.0.19 12-Kankin 2-Cauac</title>
718.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302019-12-kankin-2-cauac_30.html</link>
719.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
720.      <content:encoded>Tuesday, December 30, 2014
721. 13.0.2.0.19  12-Kankin  2-Cauac  
722. Tlazolteotl ("Filth Eater")  
723. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
724. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
725.  
726.  Visit...<br/>
727. <br/>
728. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
729.      <pubDate>Tue, 30 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
730.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
731.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-6830586698799094043</guid>
732.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
733.      <dc:date>2014-12-30T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
734.    </item>
735.    <item>
736.      <title>13.0.2.0.18 11-Kankin 1-Etznab</title>
737.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302018-11-kankin-1-etznab.html</link>
738.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
739.      <content:encoded>Monday, December 29, 2014
740. 13.0.2.0.18  11-Kankin  1-Etznab
741. Chalchihuitlicue (water goddess)  
742. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
743. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
744.  
745.  Visit...<br/>
746. <br/>
747. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
748.      <pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
749.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
750.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-8679465836086666497</guid>
751.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
752.      <dc:date>2014-12-29T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
753.    </item>
754.    <item>
755.      <title>13.0.2.0.17 10-Kankin 13-Caban</title>
756.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302017-10-kankin-13-caban.html</link>
757.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
758.      <content:encoded>Sunday, December 28, 2014
759. 13.0.2.0.17  10-Kankin  13-Caban  
760. Mictantecutli (god of the Underworld)  
761. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
762. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
763.  
764. ...<br/>
765. <br/>
766. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
767.      <pubDate>Sun, 28 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
768.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
769.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-3437295428738372323</guid>
770.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
771.      <dc:date>2014-12-28T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
772.    </item>
773.    <item>
774.      <title>13.0.2.0.16 9-Kankin 12-Cib</title>
775.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302016-9-kankin-12-cib.html</link>
776.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
777.      <content:encoded>Saturday, December 27, 2014
778. 13.0.2.0.16  9-Kankin  12-Cib  
779. Cinteotl (corn deity)  
780. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
781. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
782.  
783.  Visit...<br/>
784. <br/>
785. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
786.      <pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
787.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
788.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-4433032881105325409</guid>
789.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
790.      <dc:date>2014-12-27T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
791.    </item>
792.    <item>
793.      <title>America Unearthed:  Montezuma's Gold (review/commentary)</title>
794.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/12/america-unearthed-montezumas-gold.html</link>
795.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mMJQshs1Ji4/VJ2zfR50-DI/AAAAAAAAIFE/aSzKBcfeC8s/s72-c/mexico-disturnell-m.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
796.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
797.      <content:encoded>Once again, Scott Wolter, forensic geologist and host of &lt;i&gt;America Unearthed&lt;/i&gt;, is venturing into the territory of the Mesoamericans, so once again I shall dissect the episode for you and add my own special brand of commentary.&amp;nbsp; Enjoy.&lt;br /&gt;This episode, "Montezuma's Gold" originally aired November 29, 2014.&amp;nbsp; For now, the full episode is &lt;a href="https://draft.blogger.com/American%20Unearthed:%20%20Montezuma%27s%20Gold" target="_blank"&gt;at the H2 page&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;It begins with the delivery of a mysterious map with the note "Please put this to good use" and a computer chip.&amp;nbsp; It looks like the same map used in a previous episode about pyramids in Wisconsin (see &lt;a href="http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/01/america-unearthed-underwater-pyramids.html" target="_blank"&gt;my review of that episode&lt;/a&gt;).&amp;nbsp; In the package is also a crude lump of gold that looks like a child's version of something Aztec, with &lt;i&gt;Freddie Crystal&lt;/i&gt; written on the back.&amp;nbsp; The chip has a picture of the map with a glyph drawn across it.&lt;br /&gt;After the intro, Scott is scuba diving in a lake in Utah, looking for Montezuma's treasure. He helpfully explains that Montezuma was "that guy who led the Aztecs" and that he's most famous for "Montezuma's revenge."&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;I will not even dignify that with a comment.&lt;br /&gt;The map package apparently led him to this lake.&amp;nbsp; He admits to having seen the map before (ha!&amp;nbsp; nailed that!), the "Disturnell Map" (&lt;a href="http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/summer/images/mexico-disturnell-l.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;large size image&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mMJQshs1Ji4/VJ2zfR50-DI/AAAAAAAAIFE/aSzKBcfeC8s/s1600/mexico-disturnell-m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mMJQshs1Ji4/VJ2zfR50-DI/AAAAAAAAIFE/aSzKBcfeC8s/s1600/mexico-disturnell-m.jpg" height="376" width="640" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Disturnell Map of 1847, from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo&lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Scott reminisces about the search for the underwater pyramids and says he's not done with the Aztecs, and explains how they came from the north, from Aztlan, and how this map places Aztlan in the Four Corners region where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet.&amp;nbsp; (Too bad archeologists don't know about this!)&amp;nbsp; On this version of Scott's map, someone has hand-written "Montezuma's curse" over Utah.&lt;br /&gt;Scott heads to "the middle of the Utah desert" to meet with Lois Brown, a journalist who coincidentally has written a whole book called &lt;i&gt;Cursed Gold&lt;/i&gt; (imagine that).&amp;nbsp; She explains that Freddie Crystal showed up 100 years ago in Kanab, Utah with a mysterious map.&amp;nbsp; (Are maps ever not mysterious on this show?)&amp;nbsp; They are meeting in the place supposedly depicted on Freddie Crystal's map.&lt;br /&gt;Scott's narration helpfully explains how the Aztecs were the "largest empire in South America" (you probably heard me yelling at the television from wherever you are at that stinker), and how &lt;span class="st"&gt;Cortés&lt;/span&gt; "found" all kinds of gold there. (Yes, in the Aztecs' treasury...following in the footsteps of Columbus "discovering" land where people already had lived for thousands of years.)&amp;nbsp; When "war broke out" between the Spanish and Aztecs (he makes it sound mystifying... how did that &lt;i&gt;ever&lt;/i&gt; happen?), all that treasure "just disappeared."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;I have to stop here.&amp;nbsp; It didn't just vanish.&amp;nbsp; The Spanish were taking it away, running away, on La Noche Triste (June 30, 1520) after the death of Moctezuma II, who was being held prisoner by the Spanish.&amp;nbsp; The Spanish were greedy, the gold was heavy, the Aztecs had removed all the bridges from the causeways' canals.&amp;nbsp; The Spanish dumped much of the gold into Lake Tenochtitlan as they fled, where presumably it sank into the ooze.&amp;nbsp; Later, when &lt;span class="st"&gt;Cortés&lt;/span&gt; razed Tenochtitlan, the rubble was used to enlarge the island and covered the areas where the causeways and canals once were.&amp;nbsp; Theoretically, that treasure is all buried somewhere deep under present-day Mexico City.&amp;nbsp; (You can search for La Noche Triste to read all about that sad night.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;Immediately the show goes back to Freddie Crystal, who somehow believed the Aztecs left Tenochtitlan carrying the treasure after &lt;span class="st"&gt;Cortés destroyed their entire civilization and way of life and enslaved or killed 80% or more of them.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;I know there are theories that Moctezuma's (the more correct spelling) successor had the sunken (buried) treasure taken up from the lake bottom, but since they pretty much immediately went to war, I don't see how they had time, or if they did, where they could have hidden it that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;Cortés&lt;/span&gt; wouldn't have found it while destroying the city shortly after.&amp;nbsp; Would they have given up the manpower to carry that immense amount of treasure far away in the middle of a huge war?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;Apparently Freddie Crystal's maps came from somewhere in Mexico.&amp;nbsp; He, and his (mysterious) maps disappeared (mysteriously) in 1922.&amp;nbsp; Whenever anyone tries to search for the treasure in this area of Utah "bad things happen to them" according to the journalist, including cave divers being attacked apparently by ghosts.&amp;nbsp; A CURSE.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;The journalist explains that the Aztecs (leaderless at this point, remember) had somehow rallied, extracted the treasure and sent it off with 2,000 slaves carrying it and an escort of warriors (without &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;Cortés or anyone else noticing!) to hide it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="st"&gt;Several moments of simple research reveals that the new Aztec leader &lt;/span&gt;Cuauhtemoc, cousin to Moctezuma and son of Ahuitzotl (the ruler before Moctezuma), was actually tortured by the Spanish in an effort to find out what he had done with the lost treasure.&amp;nbsp; Eventually he was executed, without ever saying that he knew where the treasure was.&amp;nbsp; Why did he not admit "2000 slaves plus a band of warriors took it north but I don't know to where?" instead of insisting it was still in the lake even as the Spanish stuck his bare feet into the fire?&lt;br /&gt;Scott and his journalist friend revel in the Aztec's reputation for sacrificing people, and say that the 2,000 slaves and most of the warriors would have been sacrificed to "guard" the treasure.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Usually people were sacrificed to gods, not just randomly murdered on a whim and I don't think the Aztec concept of the afterlife would have matched up with the idea of guardian ghosts. &lt;br /&gt;The journalist insists she doesn't believe in curses, however, and her and Scott head right into the caves, which Freddie found "walled up" and 1,000 townspeople tore down the wall and found the caves filled with sand.&lt;br /&gt;Two thousand plus skeletons of dead Aztec slaves and warriors were not found when the sand was removed.&lt;br /&gt;Scott does his geologist thing and says the sandstone caves were definitely excavated deliberately.&lt;br /&gt;Well, Native Americans lived in that area for thousands of years, who is to say it wasn't them who dug out that cave and not Aztecs from &lt;a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distances.html?n=220" target="_blank"&gt;1500 miles away&lt;/a&gt;?&amp;nbsp; But of course the caves are on government land and Scott isn't allowed inside to really look around.&lt;br /&gt;Somehow Scott manages to decide, on the basis of a peek inside the forbidden (CURSED) cave, that "it makes the most sense" to him that the Aztecs dug out the cave and "all the evidence" (what evidence!?) points to the Aztecs.&lt;br /&gt;When Lois explains that Freddie Crystal only found a few "bones and beads" in the cave, Scott changes his story.&amp;nbsp; This cave, he says, was SUPPOSED to be the final resting place of the treasure, but something happened.&amp;nbsp; (A CURSE!?)&amp;nbsp; The plan was changed.&amp;nbsp; The treasure was moved!&amp;nbsp; But to where!?&lt;br /&gt;(Normally I do not use so many interrobangs [!?] when I write, but the breathless nature of these programs just brings them out in me.)&lt;br /&gt;Scott shows the journalist the "petroglyph" that was drawn across his map--a circle with a straight line through it.&amp;nbsp; She says immediately that she's seen it before, drawn near a (CURSED) cave where scuba divers were attacked by ghosts. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p2r2gzP_sTQ/VJ3D3ptw6VI/AAAAAAAAIFU/QjamKCZy6n8/s1600/Waterglyph_Illustrations_by_Paul_Jones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p2r2gzP_sTQ/VJ3D3ptw6VI/AAAAAAAAIFU/QjamKCZy6n8/s1600/Waterglyph_Illustrations_by_Paul_Jones.jpg" height="124" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;span class="mw-mmv-source-author"&gt;&lt;span class="mw-mmv-author"&gt;Water Glyphs, drawn by Paul Jones&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Again, a few scant moments of research brought me many results about "&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_glyphs" target="_blank"&gt;water glyphs&lt;/a&gt;" with the explanation that they are found all over the American Southwest. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So it makes perfect sense to me that a glyph pointing to water would be found near a cave full of water.&lt;br /&gt;Somehow, the revelation that a water glyph was found near a cave leads Scott right back to the treasure, and the fact there is undoubtedly a connection between the U.S. and the ancient Aztecs.&lt;br /&gt;I don't know why he can't understand that there was no United States when the Aztecs were around.&amp;nbsp; It was just land to the north.&amp;nbsp; It wasn't magical.&amp;nbsp; Even if Aztlan was in the U.S. it still wouldn't be mysterious.&amp;nbsp; It seems evident from the serpent worship in the Mississippi area and the distribution of trade goods through both lands that there was contact between people in what is now the US and people in what is now Mexico in pre-columbian times, and why would that be weird?&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Scott keep mentioned "evidence" that the treasure was hid in that cave system.&amp;nbsp; What evidence?&amp;nbsp; Where are the bones, the beads?&amp;nbsp; Have they been proven to be Aztec in origin?&amp;nbsp; (There's a test they can do on bones to tell where the person grew up by &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotope_analysis#Archaeology" target="_blank"&gt;isotope analysis&lt;/a&gt;. You'd think a geologist would know about isotopes in soil and rock.)&lt;br /&gt;Scott then meets with Steve Shaffer, who wrote something called "voices of the ancients," who said he named that special, unique symbol (the common water glyph) the Key because it's the "key to Montezuma's treasure." Scott says perhaps the symbols are "several hundred years" old or (gasp) "even Native American."&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Really.&amp;nbsp; Petroglyphs in the Southwest being Native American?&amp;nbsp; Who would have guessed.&lt;br /&gt;But Steve said he asked "some" Native Americans who said they didn't know anything about the symbols.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;So the symbols aren't Native American?&amp;nbsp; And of course, Aztecs aren't Native American either, because only First People of the U.S. can be called that.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The two men spend some time looking at photos of various water glyphs.&amp;nbsp; Scott sort of explains something called the Latitude Exercise saying that's what the glyphs really mean.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;I could not find anything actually called that, that involves a hole, a circle, and a line as he described.&amp;nbsp; I don't know if the Aztecs used any concept like latitude on their maps.&amp;nbsp; But if they did use the circle, line, and hole method to calculate distances, certainly some of those glyphs would have been found in Mexico as well as the Four Corners area?&amp;nbsp; Why would they invent something to tell them where they are just to use for that journey and not use it again anywhere else?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Steve says one of the glyphs was near a burial of 3 skeletons, all buried in the fetal position with broken-off feet.&amp;nbsp; Scott explains that the Aztec underworld was called Mictlan and it was very dark there and that's why Aztecs buried their dead in the fetal position so those skeletons MUST be Aztecs.&amp;nbsp; (I don't follow that reasoning either.)&lt;br /&gt;Because no one else ever buried their dead like that.&amp;nbsp; Brief research, again, shows that many &lt;a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/85256/burial" target="_blank"&gt;Native American tribes&lt;/a&gt; buried their dead in the fetal position, as did &lt;a href="http://www.unexplainedstuff.com/Afterlife-Mysteries/Oldest-Discovered-Burial-Site.html" target="_blank"&gt;Neanderthals&lt;/a&gt; in Europe.&lt;br /&gt;Of course, the three skeletons are "gone" and whether they were ever examined or documented professionally isn't stated.&amp;nbsp; Scott goes right back to "ritual sacrifice" and clearly those three skeletons were Aztec sacrifices!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Steve tells Scott that there's a cave with the water glyph "painted" on the ceiling and in that cave is where the treasure is.&lt;br /&gt;Three Lakes Ranch is the location of this mysterious cave and, according to Scott, is also Aztlan (where the Aztecs came from originally).&amp;nbsp; And Montezuma (as Scott calls him) sent the gold there.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Even though Moctezuma died right before the Spanish took off with the treasure and lost it in the lake and presumably Cuauhtemoc later hauled it out...Or not?&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Lon Child, the owner of the Three Lakes Ranch, says his father discovered in 1990 that the Aztecs liked to hide their treasure in "water traps."&lt;br /&gt;The only mention online of Aztec water traps and treasure is on the various sites about the gold being on this guy's land.&amp;nbsp; I wonder what he charges treasure hunters for access?&lt;br /&gt;Since the lake on the property is exactly 35 feet deep, and that's the depth of an Aztec water trap, clearly this was a Aztec-made lake, so his father bought all the land.&amp;nbsp; They dove on it, and immediately ghosts started attacking the divers and now all these years later the divers refuse to admit they ever dived there because of the CURSE.&amp;nbsp; Child Senior evidently did a good job of spreading around the idea that he owned the land where the Aztec treasure was, but because of the CURSE no one could get to it.&lt;br /&gt;Child Senior used GPR (ground penetrating radar) and found the land near the lake had caverns and voids.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Here's where Scott could have used his much-vaunted geology creds and explained why limestone would be riddled with voids where there is also water, but he did not.&amp;nbsp; Child Senior had a well-digger come and amazingly there was some gold on the drill bit!&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;There are gold mines in the Four Corners area, so finding gold shouldn't be a shock.&amp;nbsp; Again, something a Forensic Geologist should know.&lt;br /&gt;So the well-digger came out with a bigger bit and drilled deeper but the bit broke.&amp;nbsp; The digger died that night, cursed! &lt;br /&gt;Apparently no other digger would ever come out!&amp;nbsp; If I thought there was a billion dollars in treasure in my yard, I wouldn't give up on trying to get it out of the ground.&amp;nbsp; I'd call every well digger in the phone book and on the internet.&lt;br /&gt;Scott says he'll drill and Child says NO you'll die, CURSED, but you can dive the pond and go into the Aztec 35-foot classic water trap.&lt;br /&gt;Honestly the water trap thing sounds like something from &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Island" target="_blank"&gt;Oak Island&lt;/a&gt;, or Indiana Jones, or even someone's AD&amp;amp;D campaign.&lt;br /&gt;Scott says earnestly that since the "Aztec homeland was built on a swamp" they would be great at water engineering and hence making water traps. &lt;br /&gt;I thought their homeland was Aztlan, in the Four Corners?&amp;nbsp; Does he mean Tenochtitlan, their capital city, built on an island in a lake?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6FhZdnTqEQ/VJ3VmFMXuhI/AAAAAAAAIFk/ZcqK74bcAG4/s1600/IMAG006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s6FhZdnTqEQ/VJ3VmFMXuhI/AAAAAAAAIFk/ZcqK74bcAG4/s1600/IMAG006.JPG" height="262" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Scott decides to send in an ROV to look at all the underwater tunnels because he thinks they are connected to the other cave he already looked at and therefore the treasure is there, even though he already said the treasure was moved from there. &lt;br /&gt;Of course it's time for another bit of product placement for Scott's friend's ROV company.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;I have to laugh because it's unsafe for divers because of the CURSE so who is filming the ROV as it swims around?&lt;br /&gt;Scott is amazed and confused that there's sediment at the bottom of the lake.&amp;nbsp; He is the worse geologist ever.&amp;nbsp; He can't see through the ROV camera because of the sediment so... into the lake go the people!&amp;nbsp; Because if there is sediment in the lake, there must be treasure!&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Just like how dead bodies grow insects through spontaneous generation, so does treasure hidden underwater generate sediment.&amp;nbsp; You learn something new every day, right?&lt;br /&gt;Once under the water, Scott is baffled again because "it's pitch black" in the cave!&amp;nbsp; And the entrance is too narrow for a person.&amp;nbsp; And again, the SILT.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Silt=curse apparently.&lt;br /&gt;Now comes the dredging.&amp;nbsp; Looks like when I clean my pond filter.&amp;nbsp; Then the hose won't work, the "damn thing."&amp;nbsp; The Aztec's "water trap is a damn good one," Scott says.&amp;nbsp; So he's going to drain the lake!&amp;nbsp; But no, the AMBERSNAIL is endangered and lives only there and hurting one snail is a $50,000 fine.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe they should have known that from the beginning before they starting flinging around equipment!?&lt;br /&gt;Scott remembers that he is a geologist and decides to test the mortar of some blocks pulled from the lake...and it's modern.&amp;nbsp; He wants "to drill but the land owner won't let" him because of the CURSE.&amp;nbsp; He concludes that the treasure is there but he can't prove it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have always taken a weird kind of comfort in the fact that all the treasure was still down there, under 500+ years of lake silt, debris, and Mexico City, waiting forever.&amp;nbsp; I'm going to keep that view, even after watching this show.&lt;br /&gt;(Image sources: &lt;a href="http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/summer/mexico-1.html" target="_blank"&gt;map&lt;/a&gt;; &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_glyphs#mediaviewer/File:Waterglyph_Illustrations_by_Paul_Jones.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;water glyphs&lt;/a&gt;; &lt;a href="http://www.in-the-desert.com/montezuma.html" target="_blank"&gt;map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
798. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
799. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
800.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">america unearthed</category>
801.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Aztec</category>
802.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aztec gold</category>
803.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cortes</category>
804.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">La noche Triste</category>
805.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mesoamerican</category>
806.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Moctezuma</category>
807.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">montezuma</category>
808.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">pseudo-documentary</category>
809.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">review</category>
810.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">scott wolter</category>
811.      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2014 22:12:00 GMT</pubDate>
812.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
813.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-6448970545526939484</guid>
814.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
815.      <dc:date>2014-12-26T22:12:00Z</dc:date>
816.    </item>
817.    <item>
818.      <title>13.0.2.0.15 8-Kankin 11-Men;  burner/manifestation</title>
819.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302015-8-kankin-11-men.html</link>
820.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
821.      <content:encoded>Friday, December 26, 2014
822. 13.0.2.0.15  8-Kankin  11-Men
823. Pilzintecutli (sun god)
824. burner/manifestation
825. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
826. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
827.  
828.  
829. ...<br/>
830. <br/>
831. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
832.      <pubDate>Fri, 26 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
833.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
834.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-3223898155790119446</guid>
835.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
836.      <dc:date>2014-12-26T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
837.    </item>
838.    <item>
839.      <title>13.0.2.0.14 7-Kankin 10-Ix; manifestation</title>
840.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302014-7-kankin-10-ix-manifestation.html</link>
841.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
842.      <content:encoded>Thursday, December 25, 2014
843. 13.0.2.0.14  7-Kankin  10-Ix  
844. Itzli ("Stone Knife")
845. manifestation
846. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
847. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
848.  
849.  Visit...<br/>
850. <br/>
851. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
852.      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
853.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
854.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-8720145876855240882</guid>
855.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
856.      <dc:date>2014-12-25T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
857.    </item>
858.    <item>
859.      <title>13.0.2.0.13 6-Kankin 9-Ben; manifestation</title>
860.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302013-6-kankin-9-ben-manifestation.html</link>
861.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
862.      <content:encoded>Wednesday, December 24, 2014
863. 13.0.2.0.13  6-Kankin  9-Ben  
864. Xiuhtecutli (god of time & fire)
865. manifestation
866. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
867. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
868. <br/>
869. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
870.      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
871.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
872.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-2850812960778017320</guid>
873.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
874.      <dc:date>2014-12-24T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
875.    </item>
876.    <item>
877.      <title>13.0.2.0.12 5-Kankin 8-Eb; manifestation</title>
878.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302012-5-kankin-8-eb-manifestation.html</link>
879.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
880.      <content:encoded>Tuesday, December 23, 2014
881. 13.0.2.0.12  5-Kankin  8-Eb
882. Tlaloc (rain god)
883. manifestation
884. Celebration day for Eb (Road)-Malinalli (Grass)
885. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
886. Like Jaguar...<br/>
887. <br/>
888. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
889.      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
890.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
891.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-1024317552865895007</guid>
892.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
893.      <dc:date>2014-12-23T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
894.    </item>
895.    <item>
896.      <title>13.0.2.0.11 4-Kankin 7-Chuen; manifestation</title>
897.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302011-4-kankin-7-chuen-manifestation.html</link>
898.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
899.      <content:encoded>Monday, December 22, 2014
900. 13.0.2.0.11  4-Kankin  7-Chuen  
901. Tepeyollotl ("Heart of the Mountain")
902. manifestation
903. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
904. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more...<br/>
905. <br/>
906. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
907.      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
908.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
909.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-4037486615366085996</guid>
910.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
911.      <dc:date>2014-12-22T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
912.    </item>
913.    <item>
914.      <title>13.0.2.0.10 3-Kankin 6-Oc; manifestation</title>
915.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/1302010-3-kankin-6-oc-manifestation.html</link>
916.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
917.      <content:encoded>Sunday, December 21, 2014
918. 13.0.2.0.10  3-Kankin  6-Oc  
919. Tlazolteotl ("Filth Eater")
920. manifestation
921. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
922. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
923.  
924. ...<br/>
925. <br/>
926. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
927.      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Dec 2014 00:22:00 GMT</pubDate>
928.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
929.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-6630791727762111877</guid>
930.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
931.      <dc:date>2014-12-22T00:22:00Z</dc:date>
932.    </item>
933.    <item>
934.      <title>13.0.1.17.18 11-Mac 7-Etznab</title>
935.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/13011718-11-mac-7-etznab.html</link>
936.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
937.      <content:encoded>Tuesday, December 09, 2014
938. 13.0.1.17.18  11-Mac  7-Etznab
939. Cinteotl (corn deity)  
940. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
941. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
942.  
943.  Visit...<br/>
944. <br/>
945. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
946.      <pubDate>Tue, 09 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
947.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
948.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-3775186675620573779</guid>
949.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
950.      <dc:date>2014-12-09T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
951.    </item>
952.    <item>
953.      <title>13.0.1.17.17 10-Mac 6-Caban</title>
954.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/13011717-10-mac-6-caban.html</link>
955.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
956.      <content:encoded>Monday, December 08, 2014
957. 13.0.1.17.17  10-Mac  6-Caban  
958. Pilzintecutli (sun god)  
959. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
960. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
961.  
962.  Visit...<br/>
963. <br/>
964. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
965.      <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
966.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
967.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-8672068651293217930</guid>
968.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
969.      <dc:date>2014-12-08T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
970.    </item>
971.    <item>
972.      <title>13.0.1.17.16 9-Mac 5-Cib; manifestation</title>
973.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/13011716-9-mac-5-cib-manifestation.html</link>
974.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
975.      <content:encoded>Sunday, December 07, 2014
976. 13.0.1.17.16  9-Mac  5-Cib  
977. Itzli ("Stone Knife")
978. manifestation
979. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
980. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
981.  
982.  Visit...<br/>
983. <br/>
984. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
985.      <pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
986.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
987.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-4074270414357933396</guid>
988.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
989.      <dc:date>2014-12-07T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
990.    </item>
991.    <item>
992.      <title>13.0.1.17.15 8-Mac 4-Men; burner</title>
993.      <link>http://jaguarnights.blogspot.com/2014/12/13011715-8-mac-4-men-burner.html</link>
994.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
995.      <content:encoded>Saturday, December 06, 2014
996. 13.0.1.17.15  8-Mac  4-Men
997. Xiuhtecutli (god of time & fire)
998. burner
999. © 1993-2015 GB Piedmont--All Rights Reserved
1000. Like Jaguar Nights  on Facebook for more info.
1001.  
1002. ...<br/>
1003. <br/>
1004. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]</content:encoded>
1005.      <pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2014 05:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
1006.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1007.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23934102.post-7648263324591864777</guid>
1008.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1009.      <dc:date>2014-12-06T05:30:00Z</dc:date>
1010.    </item>
1011.    <item>
1012.      <title>Dementia on Pinterest</title>
1013.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2014/11/dementia-on-pinterest.html</link>
1014.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total>
1015.      <content:encoded>I'll be posting interesting things about dementia and Alzheimer's on Pinterest.&amp;nbsp; See the sideboard or below.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a data-pin-board-width="400" data-pin-do="embedBoard" data-pin-scale-height="320" data-pin-scale-width="80" href="http://www.pinterest.com/theonlymissbert/dementia-and-alzheimers/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;!-- Please call pinit.js only once per page --&gt;&lt;script async="" defer="" src="//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js" type="text/javascript"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1016. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1017. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1018.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1019.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1020.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">pinterest</category>
1021.      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 2014 23:45:00 GMT</pubDate>
1022.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1023.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-3918779796549563710</guid>
1024.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1025.      <dc:date>2014-11-23T23:45:00Z</dc:date>
1026.    </item>
1027.    <item>
1028.      <title>My mom has cancer</title>
1029.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-mom-has-cancer.html</link>
1030.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3e_v0RLhqZ8/VErzGt521HI/AAAAAAAAHK0/z-M5P72Jk9o/s72-c/bertnmom.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1031.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total>
1032.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3e_v0RLhqZ8/VErzGt521HI/AAAAAAAAHK0/z-M5P72Jk9o/s1600/bertnmom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3e_v0RLhqZ8/VErzGt521HI/AAAAAAAAHK0/z-M5P72Jk9o/s1600/bertnmom.jpg" height="202" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;My mom has stage-4 ovarian cancer.&amp;nbsp; I have no time to devote to this blog as it's taking all I have, and more, to give her the care she needs.&amp;nbsp; She's not terminal at this point; the doctor believes she can live 5 years, but she first has to survive chemo, surgery, and more chemo, which is going to be a battle into next spring.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will never take down these pages as long as I believe that my dad's story helps others.&amp;nbsp; He's been gone almost 7 years and I miss him every day, but I'm glad he's not here to see my mom so very ill.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hug your parents and tell them you love them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you need to reach me, you can e-mail geverabert at either yahoo or gmail. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks for reading.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;--Bert&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1033. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1034. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1035.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1036.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1037.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cancer</category>
1038.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mom</category>
1039.      <pubDate>Sat, 25 Oct 2014 00:50:00 GMT</pubDate>
1040.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1041.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-7694345247440116433</guid>
1042.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1043.      <dc:date>2014-10-25T00:50:00Z</dc:date>
1044.    </item>
1045.    <item>
1046.      <title>Jaguar Nights Journal--brand new!</title>
1047.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533315</link>
1048.      <description>This is a blank journal featuring hand-drawn Mesoamerican calendar graphics, suitable for any kind of writing, or daykeeping.  Includes charts for finding current Tzolkin dates.</description>
1049.      <pubDate>Sat, 21 Jun 2014 19:58:00 GMT</pubDate>
1050.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533315</guid>
1051.      <dc:date>2014-06-21T19:58:00Z</dc:date>
1052.    </item>
1053.    <item>
1054.      <title>Jaguar Nights 2015 now available in print and Kindle</title>
1055.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533314</link>
1056.      <description>newest edition of the Jaguar Nights series, the 2015 calendar, is available in print and Kindle format.</description>
1057.      <pubDate>Sat, 21 Jun 2014 19:58:00 GMT</pubDate>
1058.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533314</guid>
1059.      <dc:date>2014-06-21T19:58:00Z</dc:date>
1060.    </item>
1061.    <item>
1062.      <title>Pendulum Use (new article)</title>
1063.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533299</link>
1064.      <description>Learn how to use pendulums and pendulum charts, and also a bit about Huna, Hawaiian spirituality.  Enjoy.  })i({</description>
1065.      <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2014 19:44:00 GMT</pubDate>
1066.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533299</guid>
1067.      <dc:date>2014-05-15T19:44:00Z</dc:date>
1068.    </item>
1069.    <item>
1070.      <title>"stand your ground" follow-up</title>
1071.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2014/03/stand-your-ground-follow-up.html</link>
1072.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwPUyAMQStg/UxJBpOEa04I/AAAAAAAABb4/28g0rt7NLeg/s72-c/standyourground2.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1073.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total>
1074.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwPUyAMQStg/UxJBpOEa04I/AAAAAAAABb4/28g0rt7NLeg/s1600/standyourground2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CwPUyAMQStg/UxJBpOEa04I/AAAAAAAABb4/28g0rt7NLeg/s1600/standyourground2.jpg" height="320" width="267" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Back in December, I wrote about the sad case where &lt;a href="http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/12/stand-your-ground-against-dementia.html" target="_blank"&gt;an elderly Alzheimer's patient was shot to death&lt;/a&gt; under &lt;b&gt;the "stand your ground" law, which allows you to shoot basically anyone you feel like shooting if you can claim you are threatened.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To quickly recap, Mr Ronald Westbrook was wandering at night with his dog, lost, and went to the wrong house.&amp;nbsp; The people called the police, but then also went outside and shot the old man, killing him.&lt;br /&gt;Now the DA has decided that this sort of behavior is perfectly acceptable and no charges are to be filed against the cowardly young man who was afraid of an old man.&lt;br /&gt;I know all too well that all Alzheimer's patients are not innocently befuddled forgetful angels.&amp;nbsp; But in no article I've read has anyone suggested that Mr Westbrook was angry or threatening or in any way attacked his killer.&amp;nbsp; In fact it seems that his only menace was lack of response.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;The District Attorney's office says they will not pursue charges against Joe Hendrix in the 2013 shooting of Ronald Westbrook. D.A. Herbert "Buzz" Franklin sent a news release Friday, explaining the details surrounding the case that touched on the "stand your ground" laws.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This sets a terrible precedent.&amp;nbsp; I am deeply saddened for Mr. Westbrook's family. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/24852893/da-will-not-pursure-charges-in-death-of-72-year-old-shhoting-victim-ronald-westbrook?clienttype=generic&amp;amp;smartdevicecgbypass" target="_blank"&gt;original article&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/20921690@N04/12862092383/" target="_blank"&gt;screencap &lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1075. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1076. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1077.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1078.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1079.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
1080.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1081.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">news</category>
1082.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">shooting</category>
1083.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">stand your ground</category>
1084.      <pubDate>Sat, 01 Mar 2014 20:28:00 GMT</pubDate>
1085.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1086.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-701614999633976383</guid>
1087.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1088.      <dc:date>2014-03-01T20:28:00Z</dc:date>
1089.    </item>
1090.    <item>
1091.      <title>how to work with RSS feeds (article)</title>
1092.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533298</link>
1093.      <description>6 part article on how to work with RSS feeds.  Posting to them via email or browser, adding to a web site, combining several feeds, finding existing RSS feed URLs, and testing an RSS feed.</description>
1094.      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Feb 2014 20:11:00 GMT</pubDate>
1095.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533298</guid>
1096.      <dc:date>2014-02-12T20:11:00Z</dc:date>
1097.    </item>
1098.    <item>
1099.      <title>Look at Them Swim</title>
1100.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2014/02/look-at-them-swim.html</link>
1101.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">11</thr:total>
1102.      <content:encoded>&lt;i&gt;This is the essay I submitted to Chicken Soup for the Dementia Soul.&amp;nbsp; I did not hear back from them, and the book comes out on 4/22/2014, and you're supposed to hear back two months before.&amp;nbsp; So here it is for your enjoyment, and&amp;nbsp; you don't have to buy the book.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;Look at Them Swim&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dementia is a terrible disease and as it progresses, most days are filled with incidents we’d rather forget.&amp;nbsp; But every once in a while, there are brief moments of joy and laughter.&lt;br /&gt;My dad had Alzheimer’s for four years, and his first symptoms were speech-related (aphasia).&amp;nbsp; As the disease progressed, what he had to say became more and more random and often unintentionally hilarious.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Some people have said, “How could you laugh at your sick father?”&amp;nbsp; Those people have never lived with someone who has dementia.&amp;nbsp; You take the fun where you can get it.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;His lack of connection to the real world sometimes made him adventurous.&amp;nbsp; We’d take him out to eat and he’d look at the pictures on the menu.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;“What do I eat here?” he would ask us, pointing.&amp;nbsp; “Do I eat this?&amp;nbsp; Does this one go with that one?”&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;“You like this one,” I’d show him.&amp;nbsp; “Remember?&amp;nbsp; We used to get it when we went on vacation in Plymouth every year.”&lt;br /&gt;“Oh, the beach!&amp;nbsp; I like it there.”&amp;nbsp; And he’d be off, talking about the beach we visited every summer for thirty years.&amp;nbsp; How we would walk around in the tidal pools at low tide looking for starfish and sea urchins and once in a while even a lobster.&lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile the waitress is waiting, looking annoyed.&lt;br /&gt;“So do you want to eat this?”&lt;br /&gt;“Yes!”&lt;br /&gt;“He has Alzheimer’s,” I’d explain, and order his food for him.&amp;nbsp; It was always amazing how people who were impatient or angry with my father’s weirdness changed instantly when I said that, often going out of their way to make sure he had a good time (even if we were just at Home Depot buying some nails).&lt;br /&gt;Once the food came, my father would look at it doubtfully.&amp;nbsp; “I don’t think I like this,” he would complain.&lt;br /&gt;“You do,” I would assure him.&amp;nbsp; I never ever lied and made him eat something he hadn’t liked before.&lt;br /&gt;“How do I eat it?”&amp;nbsp; Sauces and side dishes confused him.&amp;nbsp; “Does this go on here?”&lt;br /&gt;I’d show him the “right” way and he’d eat some of the food, and then his face would change.&amp;nbsp; “I remember this!”&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;He knew, you see, that he had Alzheimer’s.&amp;nbsp; He didn’t ever seem to understand what it was, though.&amp;nbsp; He called it “this thing in my head that’s killing me” and carried around a scrap of paper on which he had carefully written ALZHEIMERS in his precise block printing, that he could show people.&amp;nbsp; Then he would display his Safe Return bracelet, and if I was there, he would point to me and say, “That one gave this to me” like it was a prize.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;He knew he couldn’t remember.&amp;nbsp; He knew he didn’t understand.&amp;nbsp; And when he did remember, or understand, he would be so happy.&lt;br /&gt;“We eat this at Plymouth!”&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;“Yes, we do.&amp;nbsp; It’s good, isn’t it?”&lt;br /&gt;And he would be happy, for a little while, and so would I.&lt;br /&gt;I don’t know when he forgot who I was.&amp;nbsp; My name left his head very early, along with all names.&amp;nbsp; I was “that girl.”&lt;br /&gt;He didn’t know who I was, but he knew he liked me.&amp;nbsp; If he was out with my mom and they saw an SUV like mine, he would get all excited and point. “Is it that girl?”&amp;nbsp; If he saw an overweight redheaded woman on TV he’d think it was me.&lt;br /&gt;He was injured one night while I was visiting—he got in the middle of a fight between the cat and the dog—and the cat opened an artery on his hand.&amp;nbsp; I used first aid to stem the bleeding until the paramedics arrived.&amp;nbsp; When they did, and fixed him up, he pointed to me.&amp;nbsp; “This girl, she helped me.&amp;nbsp; She saved me.”&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;When I left that night, he followed me out to the car and very shyly asked me for my phone number.&amp;nbsp; “In case I get in trouble again.”&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;I wrote my home, cell, and work numbers down.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;He stared at the paper and then at me.&amp;nbsp; “I know these numbers,” he said slowly.&amp;nbsp; “I know YOU.”&lt;br /&gt;“Yes, you do,” I said gently.&lt;br /&gt;As his disease, and his aphasia, progressed, conversation became more difficult.&amp;nbsp; I used to call it Alzheimer’s Mad-Libs.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;I called looking for my mom and my dad answered.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;“Bob,” I said, “Where’s Ann?”&amp;nbsp; Dad and Mom were concepts long gone.&lt;br /&gt;“Oh,” he replied.&amp;nbsp; After a long time, he said, “She took the thing to the place, for the, you know.”&lt;br /&gt;“Tell her I called.”&amp;nbsp; I tried fruitlessly to explain who I was.&lt;br /&gt;“Okay.”&lt;br /&gt;When my mom got home, of course he said, “They called.”&amp;nbsp; She had no idea who.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Meanwhile I’m at home playing fill-in-the-blank.&amp;nbsp; She took the dog to the vet for shots?&amp;nbsp; The car to the shop for repairs?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Grandma to the doctor for her eyes?&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;My mom got Caller ID after that.&lt;br /&gt;We had a dachshund and a tuxedo cat, raised together as best friends, who had both died not long before his diagnosis.&amp;nbsp; I’d bought them a Siamese cat, but my dad missed the dog.&amp;nbsp; When he took walks with my mom, he would approach every dog and think it was his.&lt;br /&gt;My mom did not want to start over with a puppy, not while dealing with early-onset dementia (Dad was 63 at his diagnosis).&amp;nbsp; I found a nice older rescue dachshund in Massachusetts and arranged to go pick him up.&amp;nbsp; The day before, my mom bought a leash, collar, bowls, and toys.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;My dad piled everything by the door. “Take it all back,” he said.&lt;br /&gt;“Don’t you want a dog?&amp;nbsp; You miss the dog.”&lt;br /&gt;“No.&amp;nbsp; Take it back.”&lt;br /&gt;We decided to get the dog anyway.&lt;br /&gt;The three of us drove 90 minutes to the rescue place.&amp;nbsp; We gave a donation and loaded me and the dog into the back seat. My dad kept turning around to look at the dog on the way home.&lt;br /&gt;“Can I pet him?”&lt;br /&gt;“Yes, you can pet him.”&lt;br /&gt;Nothing about taking the dog back or not wanting a dog, of course.&lt;br /&gt;He’d pet the dog, stare at him, stare at me.&amp;nbsp; Finally he said, “That’s a nice dog you have there.”&lt;br /&gt;“That’s your dog.”&lt;br /&gt;“My dog?” His whole face lit up.&amp;nbsp; “My dog?”&amp;nbsp; He was like a child at Christmas.&lt;br /&gt;When we stopped to walk the dog at a rest stop, my dad couldn’t stop petting him.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;“Do you want to sit in the back seat with him?”&lt;br /&gt;“Oh yes.”&lt;br /&gt;All the way home he hugged that little dachshund.&amp;nbsp; When he was dying a year later, I brought his dog to him.&amp;nbsp; He had been unresponsive for days, but he moved his hand and put it on the dog’s back and kept it there until I took the dachshund home.&lt;br /&gt;My favorite memory of him is when he was looking out the window at Mom’s flower garden, where beautiful butterflies fluttered among the colorful blooms.&amp;nbsp; He pointed and said, “look at them swim!” because he had forgotten the word “fly.”&amp;nbsp; He loved butterflies and I dearly hope that wherever he is, he is swimming with them right now, and that he is glad that when we remember him, we laugh.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1103. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1104. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1105.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1106.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1107.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">chicken soup for the soul</category>
1108.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1109.      <pubDate>Thu, 06 Feb 2014 19:48:00 GMT</pubDate>
1110.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1111.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-4433119564273380777</guid>
1112.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1113.      <dc:date>2014-02-06T19:48:00Z</dc:date>
1114.    </item>
1115.    <item>
1116.      <title>dementia patient hit by train</title>
1117.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2014/02/dementia-patient-hit-by-train.html</link>
1118.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sNQTbGgrP90/Uu_p_ZPiZVI/AAAAAAAABbQ/JO8W2uBBUZU/s72-c/wandering+dementia.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1119.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1120.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sNQTbGgrP90/Uu_p_ZPiZVI/AAAAAAAABbQ/JO8W2uBBUZU/s1600/wandering+dementia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sNQTbGgrP90/Uu_p_ZPiZVI/AAAAAAAABbQ/JO8W2uBBUZU/s1600/wandering+dementia.jpg" height="200" width="111" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The first time my dad went missing, he was really lost.&amp;nbsp; The &lt;a href="http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2006/09/94-lost-dad.html" target="_blank"&gt;second time,&lt;/a&gt; though, he was angry.&amp;nbsp; He was going to go walk in front of a truck.&amp;nbsp; He wouldn't get into my car (once he was located) and it took a police officer to get him into a vehicle and home.&lt;br /&gt;It's really hard to judge how much people with dementia retain.&amp;nbsp; The last time I saw my dad before his catastrophic head injury, he surprised me by hugging me and saying he loved me.&amp;nbsp; Did he know who I was that day, or was he just happy "that girl who helps me" came to visit him at the nursing home?&amp;nbsp; I'd like to think it's the former.&amp;nbsp; In that situation, we all hope there was a spark of recognition there, just for that moment.&lt;br /&gt;We'll never know what was in this dementia patient's mind when he managed to escape his nursing home and &lt;a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/wandering-dementia-patient-hit-by-train-in-white-rock-1.2520502" target="_blank"&gt;walk into a moving train &lt;/a&gt;on Saturday night.&amp;nbsp; The unidentified man, in his 70s, was not even reported missing by the nursing home until an hour after he had been hit by the train.&amp;nbsp; Who knows how long he was wandering outside in Canada in February.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;Police&amp;nbsp;said the train engineer sounded the warning horn, but&amp;nbsp;the man continued to walk&amp;nbsp;toward the train....(T)he man was conscious, breathing and talking when first responders arrived.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fex2pI0VRT4/Uu_te8NF_EI/AAAAAAAABbc/eQH8IB1WLS0/s1600/wandering+dementia+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fex2pI0VRT4/Uu_te8NF_EI/AAAAAAAABbc/eQH8IB1WLS0/s1600/wandering+dementia+2.jpg" height="200" width="118" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Mighty fine reporting there.&amp;nbsp; Conscious and breathing?&amp;nbsp; Talking and breathing?&amp;nbsp; I think the breathing is a given when someone is conscious and speaking.&lt;br /&gt;The man is now in the hospital with &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;undetermined head injuries.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm trying to envision this.&amp;nbsp; Was he walking down the tracks, directly at the train?&amp;nbsp; Was he walking perpendicular to the train, toward the side of it?&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.thenownewspaper.com/safety-at-issue-after-white-rock-senior-with-dementia-hit-by-train-1.811730" target="_blank"&gt;Another article &lt;/a&gt;says he was walking down the tracks.&amp;nbsp; That train engineer must have stood on the brakes not to have completely taken the old guy out.&lt;br /&gt;The nursing home doesn't seem to be too broken up over one of their dementia patients, who should have been in a locked, alarmed ward, wandering off and almost getting killed by a train.&amp;nbsp; There's no mention of any family, unless the "unidentified" part means the family hasn't been notified yet.&amp;nbsp; The second article I found was only a few hours old and still says that.&lt;br /&gt;I don't understand how, in the technologically advanced 21st century, how an old man with an addled mind managed to escape.&amp;nbsp; How difficult would it be to install, at every exit, RFID readers that also required a code.&amp;nbsp; If a patient learns the code, she still hasn't got the card, and if she's stolen a card, she (hopefully) doesn't have the code.&amp;nbsp; Employee's card is missing, immediately remove that card's number from access.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2oRgftXYb9s/Uu_wv8VgA0I/AAAAAAAABbo/IiT8XAZ3LS4/s1600/Microchip_rfid_rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2oRgftXYb9s/Uu_wv8VgA0I/AAAAAAAABbo/IiT8XAZ3LS4/s1600/Microchip_rfid_rice.jpg" height="198" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;RFID chip and grain of rice&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;You can get something that works in reverse as well--you can get it for&lt;a href="http://www.sureflap.com/" target="_blank"&gt; cat doors&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The cat door has a chip reader and your cat wears the chip on its collar.&amp;nbsp; Any animal without the chip can't enter.&amp;nbsp; So only your cat, not your neighbor's cat or a raccoon or a skunk or a family of hungry rats.&amp;nbsp; The one I linked to even works off the animal's already embedded RFID chip.&amp;nbsp; (Because if you love your pet, you'll chip it at the same time you get it fixed.)&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;The embedded chip is the size of a grain of rice and there is no reason that it couldn't be embedded in a person.&amp;nbsp; They aren't tracking chips (not yet anyway) but they would work for doors.&amp;nbsp; I know Bible lovers think RFID chips are the mark of the devil but they need to get over themselves.&amp;nbsp; The first time a child or a mentally handicapped person or a dementia patient is found because of a microchip, their tune will change.&amp;nbsp; One would hope.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20921690@N04/12292445203/sizes/o/in/set-72157604099781453/" target="_blank"&gt;Screen print of first article&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20921690@N04/12292527795/sizes/o/in/photostream/" target="_blank"&gt;Screen print of second article&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Microchip_rfid_rice.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;RFID chip&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1121. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1122. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1123.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1124.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1125.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1126.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">nursing home</category>
1127.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">wandering</category>
1128.      <pubDate>Mon, 03 Feb 2014 20:22:00 GMT</pubDate>
1129.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1130.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8300214374339352374</guid>
1131.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1132.      <dc:date>2014-02-03T20:22:00Z</dc:date>
1133.    </item>
1134.    <item>
1135.      <title>Underwater Pyramids review and commentary</title>
1136.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533297</link>
1137.      <description>Review and commentary of the Underwater Pyramids episode of America Unearthed.</description>
1138.      <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:55:00 GMT</pubDate>
1139.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533297</guid>
1140.      <dc:date>2014-01-29T21:55:00Z</dc:date>
1141.    </item>
1142.    <item>
1143.      <title>Mystery of the Serpents review and commentary</title>
1144.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533296</link>
1145.      <description>My review and commentary of the Mystery of the Serpents episode of America Unearthed.</description>
1146.      <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:54:00 GMT</pubDate>
1147.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533296</guid>
1148.      <dc:date>2014-01-29T21:54:00Z</dc:date>
1149.    </item>
1150.    <item>
1151.      <title>American Mayan Secrets review and commentary</title>
1152.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533295</link>
1153.      <description>My review and commentary of the American Mayan Secrets episode of American Unearthed.</description>
1154.      <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:53:00 GMT</pubDate>
1155.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533295</guid>
1156.      <dc:date>2014-01-29T21:53:00Z</dc:date>
1157.    </item>
1158.    <item>
1159.      <title>America Unearthed: American Mayan Secrets (review/commentary)</title>
1160.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/01/america-unearthed-american-mayan.html</link>
1161.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O781BlteseY/UugGNUZ3Q3I/AAAAAAAABZs/eXt7WR1cBjg/s72-c/GeorgiaMayan1.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1162.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">6</thr:total>
1163.      <content:encoded>&lt;i&gt;American Mayan Secrets&lt;/i&gt; is the first episode of the series &lt;i&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/america-unearthed" target="_blank"&gt;America Unearthed&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;, originally aired right on 12/21/2012.&amp;nbsp; Honestly, after watching a season and a half of this show, it is not the greatest pseudo-documentary.&amp;nbsp; But I am going to start reviewing Meso-themed shows, so I'm going back to this one.&lt;br /&gt;In this episode, Scott Wolter, the forensic geologist host, wants to explore the supposed &lt;a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/22/1100-year-old-mayan-ruins-found-in-north-georgia/" target="_blank"&gt;Mayan pyramids found in Georgia&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; He begins by complaining and swearing that&lt;b&gt; the "government" wouldn't let him into the site&lt;/b&gt;, but a friend of his has secret footage.&lt;br /&gt;The photographer had a permit and spent a day filming.&amp;nbsp; There are over 100 rock walls and structures on the site. To me, they look much like the rock walls found all over New England (where I live).&amp;nbsp; There are also cairns, not dissimilar to those at nearby &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gungywamp" target="_blank"&gt;Gungywamp&lt;/a&gt; (probably built by Native Americans or at the latest, early Colonial settlers) in Groton, CT.&lt;br /&gt;But best of all, the photographer found a square foundation.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Clearly, a pyramid was there,&lt;/b&gt; according to Wolter.&amp;nbsp; That sends him off on a quest.&lt;br /&gt;His photographer puts him in contact with Richard Thornton (quoted at the above linked article and &lt;a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/ruins-georgia-mountains-show-evidence-of-maya-connection" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;), who is the one who discovered the supposed Mayan connection.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O781BlteseY/UugGNUZ3Q3I/AAAAAAAABZs/eXt7WR1cBjg/s1600/GeorgiaMayan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O781BlteseY/UugGNUZ3Q3I/AAAAAAAABZs/eXt7WR1cBjg/s1600/GeorgiaMayan1.jpg" height="155" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Thornton says it's an absolute fact that&lt;b&gt; the Creek Indians were originally Mayans&lt;/b&gt;&lt;i&gt;.&lt;/i&gt;&amp;nbsp; The architecture, the "cultural traditions" and art, plus the language (1/3 to 1/2 of the Creek language are words that are Mayan or Totonac).&amp;nbsp; ( &lt;a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/south-american-and-mayan-dna-discovered-southern-appalachians" target="_blank"&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; addresses the subject of Central and South American DNA in North American natives. The language connection is discussed &lt;a href="http://lostworlds.org/language-evidence-mesoamerican-trade-contact-southeastern-u-s/" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;br /&gt;Wolter brings up one of his favorite subjects, archo-astronomy, and Thornton promises to show Wolter all sorts of maps and diagrams with alignments at the Georgia site.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter immediately wonders, &lt;b&gt;"is this what they don't want me to see?"&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thornton says there are over 3000 stone structures, carbon-dated to 1,000 AD, a whole town's worth (see map) more than a half-mile square.&lt;br /&gt;Thornton is flabbergasted that archeologists formed a "political action group" to "opposed" all information about this site being related to the Mayans, without ever seeing the site in person.&amp;nbsp; (Apparently &lt;a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/mayan-ruins-georgia-archeologist-objects-web-story-viral/story?id=15291662" target="_blank"&gt;this is that cabal&lt;/a&gt;?) Wolter is not surprised.&amp;nbsp; He goes into a long digression about another investigation he went on that was also stonewalled by academics. &lt;br /&gt;(I have to note that he swears a lot in this episode, but not in the more recent ones.&amp;nbsp; Swearing doesn't bother me, but I wonder if some people complained and he was told to tone it down?)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8jRglPAxpg4/UugIypCtCcI/AAAAAAAABZ0/oLilqwMrj18/s1600/GeorgiaMayan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8jRglPAxpg4/UugIypCtCcI/AAAAAAAABZ0/oLilqwMrj18/s1600/GeorgiaMayan2.jpg" height="120" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Screenshot showing alignment to sunset of winter solstice&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;When Wolter shows Thornton the videos shot by his friend, he admits to be "not impressed" because &lt;b&gt;the ruins don't really look like anything from Mexico&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The stones aren't dressed or neatly stacked, there is no stucco or plaster (whatever they called it back then, same form and function).&amp;nbsp; Thornton says that all Mayan sites really look like this, and people like him (he is NOT an archeologist, by the way) are called in to rebuild them.&amp;nbsp; I think that's pushing it a bit.&amp;nbsp; I've been to some sites where stuff isn't restored, just dug up, and it looks more organized, and very different, than these familiar rock walls (which I have seen all my life all around me).&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Thornton has a lot of really cool&lt;b&gt; 3d videos showing various archeo-astronomy alignments&lt;/b&gt; he's discovered that don't lend themselves to screen printing.&amp;nbsp; He says he also found a water distribution device that convinced him the site is Mayan, because the Maya grew crops on terraces and water through artificial irrigation. &amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Once again, Wolter complains about not being allowed admittance to the site and says petulantly that he'll just fly in and use LiDAR on the site.&amp;nbsp; Apparently you can just fly over places and use this ground-sensing technology with no permissions?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; LiDAR is something that's also being&lt;a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120827-the-laser-archaeologists" target="_blank"&gt; used in Central America&lt;/a&gt; to find archeological sites from the air, since the squared outlines of buildings show up clearly even when buried by vegetation.&amp;nbsp; It is also really, really expensive.&amp;nbsp; I can only guess that the production company is paying the bill; I found one LiDAR survey that cost &lt;a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/rmrs_2011_hummel_s001.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;$80,000&lt;/a&gt; (lower right corner of page 3).&lt;br /&gt;That segment of the video is called the &lt;b&gt;LiDAR Aerial Reconnaissance Mission over Chattahoochee National Forest&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I cannot make this up.&amp;nbsp; While in the plane, Wolter earnestly explains that&lt;b&gt; around 900 AD, the Maya people "just vanished" and that "many believe they came to America."&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt; This is the same kind of fudge-writing used extensively on &lt;i&gt;Ancient Aliens&lt;/i&gt;; it actually says nothing.&amp;nbsp; The millions of Maya still living in Mexico might take offense at being told they vanished 1100 years ago, for instance.&lt;br /&gt;There's an overly long segment about how exactly LiDAR works, including the "mowing the lawn" pattern also used when doing underwater surveys. (Maybe he should have done that when looking for the &lt;a href="http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/01/america-unearthed-underwater-pyramids.html" target="_blank"&gt;underwater Aztec pyramids&lt;/a&gt; instead of giving up like a wimp.)&amp;nbsp; The LiDAR stuff is very interesting and I'd watch a show just about how it works, but it takes too much time away from the meat of the episode:&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;is this settlement Mayan or not?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EYOSOB3IVq8/UulYLV0TOcI/AAAAAAAABaE/azbBKqE3t90/s1600/ForsythPetroglyph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EYOSOB3IVq8/UulYLV0TOcI/AAAAAAAABaE/azbBKqE3t90/s1600/ForsythPetroglyph.jpg" height="143" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Wolter says that he was "very skeptical" but now, seeing preliminary LiDAR images, he is "convinced."&lt;br /&gt;He muses that the flight of the Maya from their cities to Georgia might be "connected to their prophecy" and heads off to another location to look at a carved rock called the Forsyth Petroglyph in Athens, Georgia.&lt;br /&gt;This stone, the petroglyphs of which are reproduced to the right, has nothing on it that looks Mayan.&amp;nbsp; He meets with another source, who wrote a book about the Maya, who says the symbols are EXACTLY the same as Mayan symbols as well as Creek symbols.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXt6CkJ0dOM/UulaNirfCHI/AAAAAAAABaQ/Y8Ah9AKVfwU/s1600/mayablue.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HXt6CkJ0dOM/UulaNirfCHI/AAAAAAAABaQ/Y8Ah9AKVfwU/s1600/mayablue.png" height="140" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Supposedly the carvings are of star map, a comet impact in 536 A.D.&amp;nbsp; Wolter agrees that it must be a star map and also that it's clear that it connects the Creek Indians to the Maya.&amp;nbsp; No mention of why this comet impact is so important or where the comet landed.&amp;nbsp; I was able to find out that there is &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_weather_events_of_535%E2%80%93536" target="_blank"&gt;global evidence that something happened&lt;/a&gt; around then, but it was probably a large volcano, maybe Krakatoa, erupting.&amp;nbsp; Or why the Maya made a carving in 536 AD in Georgia when they were in Mexico until after 900 AD.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Or how there can be a "star map" to a volcano located right here on Earth.&lt;br /&gt;Then they get into the most interesting (and in my opinion, valid) part of the show: &lt;a href="http://www.livescience.com/28381-maya-blue-paint-recipe-discovered.html" target="_blank"&gt;Maya Blue&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Maya Blue was a special blue (green-blue, really) very durable, pigment used extensively by the Maya in their murals.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt; It's a mixture of palygorskite clay and indigo pigments.&amp;nbsp; The clay is abundant in Georgia but not in Central America. Wolter thinks that&lt;b&gt; the clay from Georgia was used to make the pigments used in Mesoamerica.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIaw21nSbe4/Uulc4CVIrFI/AAAAAAAABaY/MRE8l1QD9R8/s1600/Spiro_Wulfing_and_Etowah_repousse_plates_HRoe_2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIaw21nSbe4/Uulc4CVIrFI/AAAAAAAABaY/MRE8l1QD9R8/s1600/Spiro_Wulfing_and_Etowah_repousse_plates_HRoe_2012.jpg" height="200" width="148" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The source offers another connection between the two areas, and displays photos and sketches of a "falcon dancer plate" and says the identical drawing was found at Chichen Itza (more on that below).&lt;br /&gt;The source also says that&lt;b&gt; at another Georgian site called Ocmulgee they found an "elite burial" where the skull had cranial deformation&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; (I wrote about &lt;a href="http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/10/elongated-skulls-and-brainpower.html" target="_blank"&gt;cranial deformation&lt;/a&gt; a few years ago.)&amp;nbsp; The source brings up again that it's "taboo" to mainstream archeologists, and again Wolter whines and says he's going to change history himself!&amp;nbsp; To the bat cave!&amp;nbsp; I mean, off to &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocmulgee_National_Monument" target="_blank"&gt;Ocmulgee Mound Site &lt;/a&gt;(Macon, Georgia) to see the deformed skull.&lt;br /&gt;(Ignoring the Maya Blue and Falcon Dancer connections...)(and actually they never do show the deformed skull or mention it again)&lt;br /&gt;En route, this source says that Thornton's theories need to be tested, but the horrible academics won't allow it to happen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMAH8ERLNS0/UulhTkjmESI/AAAAAAAABak/hA6Rftt3FHk/s1600/spiralmounds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PMAH8ERLNS0/UulhTkjmESI/AAAAAAAABak/hA6Rftt3FHk/s1600/spiralmounds.jpg" height="215" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xochitecatl" target="_blank"&gt;Xochitecatl, Mexico&lt;/a&gt;, supposedly has an identical spiral mound as one found at Ocmulgee.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; It's covered in vegetation now, but the source has an old photo of it standing alone in cleared land.&amp;nbsp; They are the only spiral mounds known to exist in North or Central America.&amp;nbsp; The Creek Indians did a Snake Dance up and around this spiral pyramid, no word on what was done at the Mexican version of the spiral pyramid.&amp;nbsp; (Of course, just the name--Xochitecatl--Flower Blade?--tells you that site is Aztec, not Mayan.)&lt;br /&gt;The focus then moves briefly to Florida.&amp;nbsp; When the Spanish arrived in what is now Florida, around Lake Okeechobee were three tribes, called the &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaimi" target="_blank"&gt;Mayaimi&lt;/a&gt; (Miami is actually not named after that tribe), &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayaca_%28tribe%29" target="_blank"&gt;Mayaka&lt;/a&gt;, and Mayauaca (which doesn't apparently exist except on this program), and some research shows me that none of these tribes were remotely related to the Mayans except their names.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter takes this as &lt;b&gt;further proof the Maya were in Georgia&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;They inspect a large mound in &lt;a href="http://www.nps.gov/ocmu/index.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Ocmulgee&lt;/a&gt;, supposedly the first one built by the Creek upon their arrival in the area.&amp;nbsp; It's a large mound with a central hallway, the door facing due east to align with the sunrise.&amp;nbsp; (Looks more like an &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_burial_mounds" target="_blank"&gt;English barrow&lt;/a&gt; to me than anything MesoAmerican, but what do I know?)&amp;nbsp; This is Wolter's dream, archeo-astronomy.&amp;nbsp; This cannot possibly be a coincidence.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter heads to Chichen Itza where he meets with an actual archeologist.&amp;nbsp; He has to admit that "some people think the Maya died out completely but they didn't" (reversing what he said earlier in the show).&amp;nbsp; The large central pyramid (El Castillo), the archeologist says, was a man-made mountain.&amp;nbsp; The stones are very square (even weathered, their square edges are apparent), unlike the heaps of rounded natural-looking stones in Georgia.&amp;nbsp; The pyramid is also very tall and pointed, not like the low flat platform-like mounds in Georgia. (There &lt;i&gt;are&lt;/i&gt; platforms at Chichen Itza, but again they are made with precisely cut stores which are also elaborately carved.)&lt;br /&gt;Wolter asks what the archeologist thinks about contact between the Creek and Maya, and he says "it's possible" which really floors Wolter, who was obviously expecting a fight, but the guy is very personable; he grins and says "if you can find the Maya there, we can find Georgia down here." &amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;They look at the Observatory and talk about how the various windows were used to track Venus and other alignments, and also was related to the calendar.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The building is the link between the heavens and the earth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WDqdIFuZ6HQ/Uulxi9te5rI/AAAAAAAABbA/cs6MLZ6ZASQ/s1600/2spiral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WDqdIFuZ6HQ/Uulxi9te5rI/AAAAAAAABbA/cs6MLZ6ZASQ/s1600/2spiral.jpg" height="101" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Archimedean spiral vs Logarithmic (Fibonacci)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Wolter tells how he saw a spiral mound in Georgia, and there are spirals on some of the carvings at Chichen Itza, so&lt;b&gt; clearly they are exactly the same&lt;/b&gt;. The archeologist is non-committal.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter pulls out a nautilus shell and insults the archeologist's intelligence by explaining the Fibonacci sequence and tells him that the Maya were copying it.&amp;nbsp; Even though a Fibonacci spiral is not the same as the spirals they drew.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qVlBFKXg__w/UulmLVfM-vI/AAAAAAAABaw/geUxOvtZNNY/s1600/CI_carving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qVlBFKXg__w/UulmLVfM-vI/AAAAAAAABaw/geUxOvtZNNY/s1600/CI_carving.jpg" height="160" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Wolter brings up &lt;b&gt;the "end of the calendar"and "end of the world"&lt;/b&gt; (this was filmed in 2012) and the archeologist calmly says that it's the end of Baktun 12 and the beginning of Baktun 13, where we will stay for 400 years until Baktun 14.&amp;nbsp; It's the beginning of something new, and it's great that it gets the Maya people more attention.&lt;br /&gt;The archeologist shows Wolter a carving that is similar to the Falcon Dancer plate.&amp;nbsp; They are both carrying weapons, both appear to have feathers, and both have a severed head.&amp;nbsp; I think it's the temple of the Warriors, but it's been a while since I was down there.&lt;br /&gt;Finally they return to the subject Maya Blue, gazing over the cenote, the ritual well, and the place the site is named for (Mouth of the Well = Chichen Itza).&amp;nbsp; The cenote had children at the bottom (sacrifices to the rain god) and a lot of Maya Blue, a 14-foot layer of it, from all the offerings painted blue before being tossed in there.&lt;br /&gt;What's left of Mayan Blue looks rather green after 1100+ years in the elements, but some of it is still visible.&amp;nbsp; The archeologist admits they haven't found a single source of palygorskite for the Maya Blue but it doesn't seem to faze him.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter returns to his lair, I mean lab, and reviews the LiDAR data.&amp;nbsp; He seems astonished that the reconstruction (above) matches the LiDAR.&amp;nbsp; The guy meticulously mapped the place by hand, why wouldn't it match?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Wolter creates some Maya Blue using Georgia clay and compares it to actual Maya Blue used in Mexico &lt;/b&gt;to see if the clay is geologically the same, using x-ray defraction, and find that&lt;b&gt; it matches perfectly.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Wolter then goes on a tirade about how "academics" don't believe any cultures came to America before Columbus and that it's bullsh-t and this PROVES them wrong. &lt;br /&gt;Um.&amp;nbsp; Columbus himself found all sorts of people already here when he arrived.&amp;nbsp; I wasn't aware that any academics disputed that.&amp;nbsp; Even a first grader knows that.&amp;nbsp; There &lt;i&gt;is&lt;/i&gt; resistance to the thought that Europeans came here before Columbus (or even Asians, discounting the land-bridge part of it 40,000 years ago).&lt;br /&gt;I do think&lt;b&gt; the connection between Georgia clay and Maya blue is awesome because it proves that TRADERS moved between the two.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt; It makes NO SENSE that the Maya fled FROM Mexico TO Georgia and yet used Georgian materials back in Mexico. &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;image sources:&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/ruins-georgia-mountains-show-evidence-of-maya-connection" target="_blank"&gt;site plan&lt;/a&gt;, screenshot, &lt;a href="http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/possible-interpretations-of-the-forsyth-petroglyphs#slide=1" target="_blank"&gt;petroglyph&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://openhousecreative.co.uk/site/public/portfolio_maya_blue/3-OH-maya-blue-logo-3.png" target="_blank"&gt;Maya blue&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spiro_Wulfing_and_Etowah_repousse_plates_HRoe_2012.jpg" target="_blank"&gt; plate&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Archimedean_spiral.svg" target="_blank"&gt;spiral 1&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Logarithmic_Spiral_Pylab.svg" target="_blank"&gt;spiral 2&lt;/a&gt;, screenshot, screenshot &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cross-posted to &lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/articles/AmericanMaya.html" target="_blank"&gt;Transformations by Obsidian Butterfly site&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
1164. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
1165. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1166.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">america unearthed</category>
1167.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">georgia</category>
1168.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">maya</category>
1169.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan</category>
1170.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">pseudo-documentary</category>
1171.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">pyramid</category>
1172.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">scott wolter</category>
1173.      <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:29:00 GMT</pubDate>
1174.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
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1176.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1177.      <dc:date>2014-01-29T21:29:00Z</dc:date>
1178.    </item>
1179.    <item>
1180.      <title>America Unearthed: Mystery of the Serpents (Review/commentary)</title>
1181.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/01/america-unearthed-mystery-of-serpents.html</link>
1182.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEbBSvN5qAU/UuWbF9mf_1I/AAAAAAAABYE/9Vk4ap26BhE/s72-c/LochNellSerpent.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1183.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1184.      <content:encoded>Since I had so much fun with last week's episode about&lt;a href="http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/01/america-unearthed-underwater-pyramids.html" target="_blank"&gt; underwater Aztec pyramids&lt;/a&gt;, I thought I'd also review the show on the &lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/america-unearthed/videos" target="_blank"&gt;serpent mounds&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; When I originally started this blog, many years ago, it was to record my dreams and musings as I was initiated into the Order of the Feathered Serpent, with my final initiation to be at the Ohio Serpent Mounds.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Because of&amp;nbsp; illness in his immediate family, the teacher had to put the class on hold, and it's never started back up even though I've contacted him several times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEbBSvN5qAU/UuWbF9mf_1I/AAAAAAAABYE/9Vk4ap26BhE/s1600/LochNellSerpent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gEbBSvN5qAU/UuWbF9mf_1I/AAAAAAAABYE/9Vk4ap26BhE/s1600/LochNellSerpent.jpg" height="185" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Loch Nell Serpent Mound (screen print from video)&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;This episode of &lt;i&gt;American Unearthed&lt;/i&gt; starts out by saying, &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;"There are mysterious mounds scattered throughout the planet."&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;Inside and out, apparently, not just on the surface.&amp;nbsp; Bad writing strikes in sentence one.&lt;br /&gt;These mounds are linked by mysterious symbols thousands of years old that span continents and oceans and it all ends up in the U.S....&lt;br /&gt;In Oban, Scotland, Scott Wolter (the show's "forensic geologist" host), investigates a serpent mound, one of three in the world (one is in the U.S. and two in Europe).&amp;nbsp; This serpent is on the edge of Loch Nell and this drawing shows its alignment.&amp;nbsp; This is a Bronze age effigy mound, most of which are ancient and associated with rituals.&amp;nbsp; This one had a stone circle in the head, including some stones that had been burnt. You can see the altar stone in the circle.&amp;nbsp; Also on the site was a stone burial chamber called a &lt;i&gt;kist&lt;/i&gt;, excavated in the late 19th century, and found to have been robbed, with only a bone knife left behind.&amp;nbsp; Probably this was a site for ritual sacrifices (one of Wolter's favorite subjects).&lt;br /&gt;Wolter, using his geology knowledge for once, explains that probably there was a glacier here, terminating in this loch.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The movement of the glacier, dragging along rocks and soil underneath, forms a natural winding ridge called an &lt;i&gt;esker&lt;/i&gt;, which is what the serpent portion probably is, and then enhanced by humans.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRWzVlBg3HY/UuWeL-Wd6nI/AAAAAAAABYQ/Y9-XaJC_604/s1600/serpent-head.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CRWzVlBg3HY/UuWeL-Wd6nI/AAAAAAAABYQ/Y9-XaJC_604/s1600/serpent-head.jpg" height="239" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Serpent's head, Chichen Itza&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Serpent symbols are ancient, going back to the Bible.&amp;nbsp; Egpytian pharohs wore a serpent (&lt;i&gt;uraeus&lt;/i&gt;) on their crowns.&amp;nbsp; The &lt;i&gt;caduceus&lt;/i&gt; staff of the Greek god Hermes has two serpents wrapped around it (it's now the familiar medical symbol).&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Wolter then brings in the serpent from last week's episode, the one that supposedly guarded the supposed underwater Aztec pyramid.&lt;br /&gt;He mentions Chichen Itza, now one of the new 7 wonders of the old world, in Yucatan Mexico, by talking about astro-astronomy (and also showing the observatory building at Chichen Itza), but somehow fails to note that the base of the staircases of the main pyramid (the famous one) are the heads of serpents, specifically of the god Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan (Aztec/Mayan names for the same god), or the fact that on the spring equinox the shadows make it look like the serpent is crawling down the steps.&amp;nbsp; In fact there are feathered serpent heads all over that complex, not just on the main pyramid.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;Somehow, astro-astronomy provides a clue to who built (or modified) the Scottish serpent mound.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Possibly, a serpent (Loch Nell monster?) lives in the loch.&amp;nbsp; They try to figure out what, if any, alignments, exist there, using a phone app.&amp;nbsp; I WANT THAT APP.&amp;nbsp; What app does that?&amp;nbsp; Ah, the &lt;a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/helios-sun-position-calculator/id311648870?mt=8" target="_blank"&gt;Helios Sun Position app&lt;/a&gt; (another product placement here) which of course is i-tunes only.&amp;nbsp; (&lt;a href="http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/09/09/smartphones-now-account-for-56-of-us-market-apples-iphone-at-25-share" target="_blank"&gt;Most smart phones are Android&lt;/a&gt;, you know, Mr App Programmer.)&lt;br /&gt;And of course Wolter finds alignments!&amp;nbsp; The people who built the mounds aligned them to...wait.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; Did he not just say the mounds were laid down organically by the glacier? Why would the glacier have used archeo-astronomy to form the mounds?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm therefore ignoring what he says about these alignments.&amp;nbsp; Because clearly any idiot can see that it makes more sense that the mound was organically built by nature and then improved by man.&amp;nbsp; Wolter is forcing his ideas onto this, because of his obsession with archeo-astronomy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sGpq6qSN7cs/UuWip60CafI/AAAAAAAABYc/kRpkTOMulws/s1600/stonehenge_2540465b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sGpq6qSN7cs/UuWip60CafI/AAAAAAAABYc/kRpkTOMulws/s1600/stonehenge_2540465b.jpg" height="199" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, England&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;He returns to Chichen Itza (or, as my husband refers to it, "Bert's homeland") and finally brings up the alignment I already detailed above, but he mentions it in less details.&amp;nbsp; Stonehenge is another well-known place that has definite, built-in alignments.&amp;nbsp; I will listen to someone talk all day about man-made alignments at those two man-made places.&amp;nbsp; I won't listen if you're talking about an organic formation.&amp;nbsp; And please don't say God did it.&amp;nbsp; Please.&lt;br /&gt;The local expert says in 2000 BCE, people moved into that area (Loch Nell).&amp;nbsp; Wolter asks eagerly if they were "pagans."&amp;nbsp; 2000 years before Jesus that's all there were, pagans.&amp;nbsp; My brain just broke from the stupid.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And of course human sacrifice!&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Don't forget all the pagan rituals and human sacrifice.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wolter declares that he knows of a bigger serpent mound (not hard to do if there are only 3 in the world)--the one in Ohio. And since there are only three, they must be related.&amp;nbsp; Especially since the Lock Nell one has such &lt;i&gt;great archeo-astronomy&lt;/i&gt;.&amp;nbsp; (Plus I am still waiting to hear where the third mound is.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OuGW9lwWocY/UuWl1TJ7QII/AAAAAAAABYo/7l5ijs0TDXA/s1600/SFig-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OuGW9lwWocY/UuWl1TJ7QII/AAAAAAAABYo/7l5ijs0TDXA/s1600/SFig-2.jpg" height="209" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Ohio Serpent Mound, aerial view&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Wolter gets in a helicopter to tour the Ohio mound from the sky.&amp;nbsp; There is an extended showing of dials and rotators and the helicopter taking off.&lt;br /&gt;Since it was made to be seen from above, clearly it was built for the gods to see.&amp;nbsp; Or aliens, of course, but that's another show (&lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/ancient-aliens" target="_blank"&gt;Ancient Aliens&lt;/a&gt;)--I yell at that one too.&lt;br /&gt;This mound has been carbon-dated to between 700 BCE and 100 AD--13 centuries or more after the Scottish one.&amp;nbsp; Some nearby but associated burials were found that date very far back, even fossilized ones, but were they the original builders?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iwmfUavFehU/UuWntLL3XdI/AAAAAAAABYw/Ai1S20S4NME/s1600/serpentmounddraco.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iwmfUavFehU/UuWntLL3XdI/AAAAAAAABYw/Ai1S20S4NME/s1600/serpentmounddraco.jpg" height="180" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;It's not the same at all in my eyes.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;This serpent has an egg in its mouth, possibly a sun disc, or the Eye of Horus (Egyptian connection again, even though Egypt has zero serpent mounds?).&amp;nbsp; This serpent has 15 solar/lunar alignments and it also looks like the constellation Draco.&amp;nbsp; I don't see it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The local expert says the mound was designed by "a genius who loved the heavens and loved the earth," an adept. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;It's a place to "restore the spirit of the planet."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wolter says the two serpents mounds are clearly related:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;both are best seen from above&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;both have ceremonial burials&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;both have astronomical alignments (I've said my piece on the Scottish alignments, move along, nothing more to say here)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;both date back "thousands of years" (although not to the same range at all)&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;both are "spiritual sites" with "pagan rituals" including possible human sacrifice &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;But he thinks the SAME PEOPLE built both mounds.&amp;nbsp; They lived a long time, from 2,000 bce to 700 bce, didn't they?&lt;br /&gt;Oh, and now they've brought God into it after all.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; Supposedly God built the Ohio mound to remind everyone of the serpent in the garden and the "egg" in the snake's mouth is the apple, the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, so therefore...wait for it...the Ohio mound is the location of the Garden of Eden.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Really, if I wasn't blogging this, I'd probably have turned it off there, exactly halfway through the episode.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pi8vT4alVOA/UuWtBSM-yFI/AAAAAAAABZA/WmLKWLG-pmg/s1600/Miss-River-National-Park-Group-3_3_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Pi8vT4alVOA/UuWtBSM-yFI/AAAAAAAABZA/WmLKWLG-pmg/s1600/Miss-River-National-Park-Group-3_3_1.jpg" height="218" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;National Park Service map of Effigy Mounds&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;The local expert says the Cherokee people believe the Eastern portion of the U.S. was once a garden, and therefore the Garden of Evil.&amp;nbsp; And clearly, the expert believes the serpent was the great father/mother/provider so the two sites must be connected.&amp;nbsp; Even though the garden of Eden connection has an evil snake motif, not a benevolent one.&lt;br /&gt;They go off to Effigy Mounds National Monument in Harpers Ferry, Iowa, to somehow prove the connection between the Ohio and Scotland serpents.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter declares that "ancient pagan travelers from Scotland" clearly helped the people in Ohio build their serpent.&lt;br /&gt;In Iowa, he meets with another local expert, a man who has been surveying and studying the mounds for 33 years.&amp;nbsp; The site originally had over 1,000 mounds (most now destroyed).&amp;nbsp; It was a place of education and of course had archeo-astronomy.&amp;nbsp; The local Ho-Chunk people (their shamans/priests), according to the expert, were travelers who regularly went to Europe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Yes, pre-Columbian Native American shamans traveled to Europe all the time and apparently the Europeans never noticed.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;(or maybe only Columbus noticed?)&lt;br /&gt;You know that Wolter immediately lost his MIND over this, as it proves his theory of transference, although in the other direction.&lt;br /&gt;He says figuring out why they encoded information in the effigy mounds would "a global system of shared knowledge and ideas, a link between cultures that reaches further back in time than our history books tell us today."&amp;nbsp; And of course, his standard line, if I can prove this, it will change history.&lt;br /&gt;(note: I've been watching [yelling at] this show for two seasons and he has yet to change history.)&lt;br /&gt;The local expert says the shamanic knowledge of archeo-alignments was shared freely among local tribes and of course across the Atlantic to (pagan?) Europe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3oIu_iYDQNI/UuWxYIbcJ9I/AAAAAAAABZM/fo14vRBzyWQ/s1600/CahokiaMounds-old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3oIu_iYDQNI/UuWxYIbcJ9I/AAAAAAAABZM/fo14vRBzyWQ/s1600/CahokiaMounds-old.jpg" height="216" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;artist's rendition of Cahokia, approx 1150 AD&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;A thousand years ago, the area around the Iowa park contained hundreds more effigy mounds, including more than one serpent mound.&amp;nbsp; It was part of the worship of the Plumed Serpent (ie, Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan, am I right?) that spread all across the Mississippi area.&amp;nbsp; Their trading area spread across North and Central America (and of course, Europe) and the center was Cahokia (mentioned in last week's review as well).&amp;nbsp; Cahokia was a major city in North America, and it collapsed or was abandoned after 1200 AD.&amp;nbsp; (The novel &lt;i&gt;People of the River&lt;/i&gt;, by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear, is about this time period/place. They are archaeologists who write about early native American cultures.)&lt;br /&gt;Next Wolter visits Cahokia (on the Mississippi River in Missouri, across from St Louis).&amp;nbsp; He wants to use LIDAR to scan Cahokia.&amp;nbsp; This is the same technology that they are using to find sites hidden in the jungles of Central America.&amp;nbsp; Apparently LIDAR has been used there before, but it was an older version with lower resolution (looking at a dog, not at his fleas, as the operator says).&lt;br /&gt;Cahokia once had 12,000 people living there in 1200 AD, more than contemporary London or Paris (but at the same time, Tenochtitlan--the Aztec capital--had 200,000-300,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in the WORLD).&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The largest mound of Cahokia is larger than the Great Pyramid of Egypt. It was the largest man-made building in&amp;nbsp; Pre-Columbian North America.&lt;br /&gt;The LIDAR image of Cahokia is awesome.&amp;nbsp; There's no way to screen print it unfortunately but it shows roads and little houses and larger buildings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4I9g5CX2p84/UuW39CvqBwI/AAAAAAAABZc/JrN_AaPWpC4/s1600/Rotherwas_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4I9g5CX2p84/UuW39CvqBwI/AAAAAAAABZc/JrN_AaPWpC4/s1600/Rotherwas_1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;The Rotherwas Serpent Mound, now buried under a road&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;His conclusion, of course, is that all the sites are related (all the American ones, yes, unquestionable, but lumping in Scotland, no).&lt;br /&gt;He never showed the third serpent mound so I did a little research, which made me sad.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The third serpent mound was in England and it was destroyed in 2007 &lt;/span&gt;when a road was build over it.&amp;nbsp; It was called the &lt;a href="http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/news/Rotherwas.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Rotherwas Serpent Mound&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The link contains its story and description as well as comparisons to the other two mounds profiled in this episode.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;image sources:&amp;nbsp; screen print from &lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/america-unearthed/videos" target="_blank"&gt;video&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/25/79/60/serpent-head.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;Trip Advisor&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02540/stonehenge_2540465b.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;The Telegraph&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.barry.warmkessel.com/SFig-2.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;, screen print again/same source, &lt;a href="http://www.nps.gov/efmo/parkmgmt/images/Miss-River-National-Park-Group-3_3_1.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;National Park Service&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-illinois/CahokiaMounds-old.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;Legends of America&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/news/Rotherwas.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Andrew Collins &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This article is also posted on my web site, &lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/articles/serpentmystery.html" target="_blank"&gt;Transformations by Obsidian Butterfly&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
1185. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
1186. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1187.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">america unearthed</category>
1188.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">anthropology</category>
1189.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">archaeology</category>
1190.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cahokia</category>
1191.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">feathered serpent</category>
1192.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">kukulcan</category>
1193.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">plumed serpent</category>
1194.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">queztalcoatl</category>
1195.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotherwas serpent mound</category>
1196.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">scott wolter</category>
1197.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">serpent mounds</category>
1198.      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:44:00 GMT</pubDate>
1199.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
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1201.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1202.      <dc:date>2014-01-27T01:44:00Z</dc:date>
1203.    </item>
1204.    <item>
1205.      <title>America Unearthed: Underwater Pyramids (review/discussion/snark/spoilers)</title>
1206.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2014/01/america-unearthed-underwater-pyramids.html</link>
1207.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7AfMzxkErQs/Utxq0E3tA2I/AAAAAAAABWs/t6OpMIxxA3g/s72-c/stoneteepees.png" height="72" width="72" />
1208.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">4</thr:total>
1209.      <content:encoded>I've been watching &lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/america-unearthed" target="_blank"&gt;America Unearthed&lt;/a&gt; (H2 channel) since the early episodes, including the very first one where they claimed to have found&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; Mayan pyramids and artifacts in Georgia.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; (I didn't think to review it at the time.) &amp;nbsp; You can watch&lt;a href="http://youtu.be/ywLNdUnZr4s" target="_blank"&gt; it on Youtube&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://youtu.be/cKE3QkCuKtM" target="_blank"&gt;.&lt;/a&gt; or on &lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/america-unearthed/videos" target="_blank"&gt;H2&lt;/a&gt;. If I remember&amp;nbsp; correctly, the most interesting thing was the revelation that the &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Maya Blue (pigment) used in Georgia came from the same source geologically as the Maya Blue used by the Central American Maya.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The premise of the show is that Scott Wolter, a forensic geologist, investigates various claims that he always says "will change history" such as proving Vikings and other pre-Columbian Europeans were in the New World prior to the 15th century.&amp;nbsp; He is never able to conclusively prove anything (and in a recent case, having to do with a giant rock wall in Texas, he actually disproved the theory that the long wall was man-made).&lt;br /&gt;Last night's Underwater Pyramid episode begins with two duck hunters in a rowboat being caught on top of an underwater step pyramid in a lake (Lake Mills, Wisconsin) in 1900.&amp;nbsp; Very dramatic.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7AfMzxkErQs/Utxq0E3tA2I/AAAAAAAABWs/t6OpMIxxA3g/s1600/stoneteepees.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7AfMzxkErQs/Utxq0E3tA2I/AAAAAAAABWs/t6OpMIxxA3g/s1600/stoneteepees.png" height="320" width="240" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Stone Teepees beer label with story.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Wolter meets his contact at Tyranena Brewing Company, named for the same lake (now known as "Rock Lake").&amp;nbsp; Their beer label shows three stone pyramids and says "Stone Teepee."&lt;br /&gt;The Native Americans in the area tell of &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;a "foreign tribe" that built "stone structures and effigy mounds" in the area of the lake, now underwater.&amp;nbsp; Supposedly, the contact says, the Aztecs built them.&lt;/span&gt; Some scuba divers went down and found pyramids.&amp;nbsp; But the drawing looks nothing like a pyramid to me--a pyramid has a square bottom and 4 triangular sizes.&amp;nbsp; This has a rectangular bottom, two triangular sizes and two rectangular sides.&amp;nbsp; It looks like a stone version of a long house, not like anything I've ever seen from Meso-America.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uxlfxnh7IWw/UtxoXAAwzJI/AAAAAAAABWY/FGRqI-zrEO4/s1600/underwateraztecpyramids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uxlfxnh7IWw/UtxoXAAwzJI/AAAAAAAABWY/FGRqI-zrEO4/s1600/underwateraztecpyramids.jpg" height="165" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;I screenprinted this from the video on H2's site&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Another legend, also on a beer bottle, is "Rocky's Revenge", about the "protector of the pyramids" and the label shows a kind of prehistoric dinosaur.&amp;nbsp; It's "Wisconsin's version of Nessie."&amp;nbsp; Local scuba divers feel like the monster's watching them and get creeped out by it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fHnjpDYQ030/Utxqzc5vrLI/AAAAAAAABWo/y3USn5-LCNs/s1600/RockysRevenge.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fHnjpDYQ030/Utxqzc5vrLI/AAAAAAAABWo/y3USn5-LCNs/s1600/RockysRevenge.png" height="320" width="284" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Rocky's Revenge beer label with story.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wolter declares his intention to dive the pyramids with a personal submarine (submersible), although he declares the idea of the Aztecs traveling that far "bizarre."&lt;br /&gt;The FuGo subs are silly-looking bright yellow tiny things, like the Mini Coopers of the sub world.&amp;nbsp; Then the show turns into an ad for the sub.&amp;nbsp; Product placement, anyone?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; First the beer, now the sub.&amp;nbsp; Sigh.&lt;br /&gt;Looking up Lake Mills, I see that the lake is half the town, and at the other half is something labeled "Aztalan" which is very close to the word for the Aztec's legendary homeland,  &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztl%C3%A1n" target="_blank"&gt;Aztlán&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The Rocky's Revenge label mentions Aztalan as well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xSQsKm-Di9s/UtxxTR1FhNI/AAAAAAAABW8/US2sevceY7U/s1600/lakemills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xSQsKm-Di9s/UtxxTR1FhNI/AAAAAAAABW8/US2sevceY7U/s1600/lakemills.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&amp;nbsp;Wolter's next stop is a visit with Dr. Roberto Rodriguez, who has "studied the Aztecs," whatever that means, and who is an "Aztec Migration Expert."&amp;nbsp; He says he "followed the corn," because corn was originally domesticated in the southern Mexican area (albeit thousands of years before the Aztecs appeared on the scene).&lt;br /&gt;This gives Wolter a chance to&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; luridly describe people being sacrificed to the "corn god" and "corn goddess" (great use of deity names there, Wolter) and gasp, some of the sacrifices were even eaten.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Dr. Rodriguez says he discovered the Aztec legend that they came originally from the North (ie, North America, or at least the southern part of it) which completely flabbergasts Wolter, as if&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; no one ever in the history of talking about the Aztecs knew their legend of their northern homeland.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Which I already mentioned, above, before even getting to this section of the show.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter goes on to talk about "Roberto's remarkable theory" that the Aztecs came from American and moved to Mexico.&amp;nbsp; Remarkable theory?&amp;nbsp; It's an ancient legend.&amp;nbsp; This guy didn't discover it.&amp;nbsp; This is disingenuous and this sort of stuff angers me.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Maybe Wolter knew the Aztecs believed they came from the North, maybe he didn't, but to pretend this guy invented the idea is ridiculous.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I don't believe anyone has ever found what was the ancient homeland of Aztlan, which could have been in the American Southwest, or higher up, or even in very northern Mexico.&amp;nbsp; We'll probably never know for sure.&lt;br /&gt;Dr Rodriguez explains that the Aztec &lt;i&gt;pochtecas&lt;/i&gt; (traveling merchants) did travel all over the continent (perhaps how the Maya Blue got to Georgia?). I know that those trade goods can be traced by modern anthropologists who find them in excavations, and also borrowed words in other languages can show those trade routes, such as the study of the Uto-Aztecan languages, shown on this map from Wikipedia:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nEnF54CmcNo/Utxzl6ZgibI/AAAAAAAABXI/A9mMusyDWjM/s1600/uteaztecanlanguagemap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nEnF54CmcNo/Utxzl6ZgibI/AAAAAAAABXI/A9mMusyDWjM/s1600/uteaztecanlanguagemap.jpg" height="320" width="267" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(aside: I don't know why I can't get a job as a researcher for one of these types of shows.  All these extra things, I'm either looking up on the fly or I already know them.)&lt;br /&gt;You might notice that the red on that map goes NO WHERE near where these alleged Aztec pyramids are, up by Lake Michigan.&lt;br /&gt;The good doctor offers some ancient maps to Wolter, to prove his "theory" about North America being the Aztec homeland. This is one of them:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QUqpGsVrRTE/Utx1toRycnI/AAAAAAAABXU/2pBVyzkzpy0/s1600/Disturnell-map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QUqpGsVrRTE/Utx1toRycnI/AAAAAAAABXU/2pBVyzkzpy0/s1600/Disturnell-map.jpg" height="229" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The map is from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Wolter constantly calls it, incorrectly, the Treat of Hidalgo) in 1848.&amp;nbsp; Dr Rodriguez says that in the Four Corners region, &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;this map has a label that it's the homeland of the Aztecs ("Antigua residencia de los Aztecas").&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was only able to find a translated version in close-up, which also shows the &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;"ruins of the 2nd houses of the Aztecs"&lt;/span&gt; not far away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LPc7kPccPqk/Utx4K7I2hGI/AAAAAAAABXg/iTUaCYietA4/s1600/ancienthomelandaztecs+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LPc7kPccPqk/Utx4K7I2hGI/AAAAAAAABXg/iTUaCYietA4/s1600/ancienthomelandaztecs+copy.jpg" height="320" width="277" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Close up of translated maps showing&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;"Ancient Residence"  and "Ruins of the 2nd Houses"&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dr Rodriguez thinks the Great Salt Lake is the actual origin of the Aztecs, based on some even older maps.&amp;nbsp; But on newer maps, supposedly this information is redacted.&amp;nbsp; Dr Rodriguez seems to believe &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;it's a racist conspiracy&lt;/span&gt;, because everyone tells Mexicans to "go back" to Mexico, but they really came from North America so they are already "back" and that won't do.&lt;br /&gt;Even though this map shows the ancient Aztec homeland as no where near Wisconsin, Wolter can't let it go.&amp;nbsp; Maybe the lake wasn't the Great Salt Lake.&amp;nbsp; Maybe it was Lake Michigan.&amp;nbsp; Or this Rock Lake.&amp;nbsp; He doesn't know when to quit.&lt;br /&gt;I'm going to turn aside again and interject my own thoughts:&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;If the Aztecs' homeland was Rock Lake, or even Lake Michigan, they would not have been labeled "foreigners" by the natives living in the area.&amp;nbsp; They would have BEEN the natives living in that area.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Once the Aztecs went south, they stayed south, except, as mentioned already, for the pochtecas, who certainly didn't stick around long enough to build pyramids in any places they visited.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;And then Dr Rodriguez mentions a few words that are cognates in Aztec (Nahuatl) and the local native language:&amp;nbsp; Michigan and Michoacan both mean "place of fishes" (pronounced almost exactly the same), as well as "mocatzin" and "moccasin" (both meaning shoe).&lt;br /&gt;I think these can be explained by the pochtecas bringing language from place to place along with trade goods.&amp;nbsp; "What's this foot thing?" "It's a mocatzin" (other person doesn't hear the slight "t" sound) "Oh, a moccasin."&lt;br /&gt;Finally, halfway through the show, Wolter is ready to dive in his little yellow submarine so he can prove that the rock structures were built by Aztecs and somehow the sea monster also has Aztec relevance although I can't comprehend it, and evidently it was more important to include another product placement/ad for the subs rather than &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;explain how the Aztecs placed the serpent in the lake.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; The lake that wasn't there when the structures were built. But that was perhaps the lake that was the homeland of the Aztecs.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;I'm utterly confused and there are still 30 minutes to go.&lt;br /&gt;Finally, they are diving, talking about how Rocky is a cryptid and they're looking for him as well as for the pyramids.&amp;nbsp; More time is wasted because Wolter gets himself stuck into the bottom's mud, it's murky, there are weeds, all kinds of false drama because his battery is running dead and he's not found anything.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Except that it's "creepy" down there.&lt;br /&gt;And after that ONE FAILED DIVE he gives up.&amp;nbsp; Doesn't dive again.&amp;nbsp; Doesn't try any kind of sonar.&amp;nbsp; Just wanders off, heads to that place I mentioned earlier, Aztalan state park.&amp;nbsp; He meets the former Wisconsin state archeologist, who says they've never found a pyramid in the lake either.&amp;nbsp; Of course if Wolter had checked with them first, it would have been a non-story.&lt;br /&gt;(Or maybe he did and that's why he gave up after one dive.&amp;nbsp; Or, as in other shows, he could have visited them first, gotten belligerent with those who didn't agree with his ideas, and stomped off to prove them wrong, only to go home muttering "it's still possible" when he couldn't do that.)&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;The archeologist brings him to a partially restored archeological site, dated to around 1,000 A.D.&amp;nbsp; It's a heavily fortified site, with defensive log walls.&amp;nbsp; Supposedly new people moved in with existing people, and thus the fortification was to protect the newcomers from the other older tribes.&amp;nbsp; Apparently this information came from their middens.&lt;br /&gt;The site appears to be low mounds inside of the log fences.&amp;nbsp; Wolter claims it looks like Tenochtitlan because there are plazas between the buildings.&amp;nbsp; Well, who builds buildings all on top of each other with no space in between?&amp;nbsp; (I won't get into my friend's theory of pyramid building, which is that the most efficient way to pile up earth and/or stones and/or bricks turns out to be a pyramid shape.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g9CdN6Xxy8I/UtyBmZeaB9I/AAAAAAAABXw/YNwqsYzvPiI/s1600/atzmap.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g9CdN6Xxy8I/UtyBmZeaB9I/AAAAAAAABXw/YNwqsYzvPiI/s1600/atzmap.jpeg" height="320" width="235" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Aztalan site reconstruction.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Wolter keeps talking about how the Aztecs built walls to keep the rich people in (they did?), and since the archeologist says this town had a wealthy quadrant, with its own walls (the long thin area to the right of this&amp;nbsp; map next to the trees, if I'm following the on-screen map correctly), and that one mound, that &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;it's exactly like an Aztec city.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the pyramids was actually a burial pyramid, again, something Aztecs didn't do.&amp;nbsp; On top of another pyramid was the sacred fire, only put out once a year when the corn was about to be planted, because these people, like the Aztecs, were "obsessed by corn."&amp;nbsp; Now personally&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; I'd call the Aztecs many things, but corn-obsessed isn't even on my radar.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The archeologist describes a "princess mound" where a young woman was buried with high-status items.&amp;nbsp; Immediately Wolter says she must have been sacrificed when the corn crop was bad.&amp;nbsp; Because, of course, there is no chance she was the beloved daughter of the ruler who died young and was buried with riches by her grieving family.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter sums it all up.&amp;nbsp; Both sites:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;were obsessed with corn&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;had plazas&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;had a wealthy walled neighborhood&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;human sacrifice&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;the names &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And he wonders, how could they be connected? Um, the POCHTECAS already mentioned could have brought the concepts around...or...&lt;br /&gt;The archeologist says the settler who discovered the ruins made up the name after finding out about the Aztec homeland.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; That the site is dated absolutely to 1,000 AD, abandoned by 1200 A.D. and has nothing to do with the Aztecs, and was built by the Mississipians.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And he brings up &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia" target="_blank"&gt;Cahokia&lt;/a&gt;, as being the capital of the Mississipian civilization.&lt;br /&gt;Wolter leaps to another conclusion, that the Mississipian people left this site, wandered to the Great Salt Lake, and from there to central Mexico, totally discounting what's already been discussed about the origins of the Ute-Aztecan language family.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;He admits that if there are any rocks in Rock Lake, they are probably glacial erratics, but hey, he did PROVE his friend's THEORY that the Aztecs really came from the North.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Who knew that?&lt;br /&gt;Wow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Picture sources:&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://tyranena.com/category/our-beer/" target="_blank"&gt;Tyranena Beer page&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.history.com/shows/america-unearthed/videos" target="_blank"&gt;H2,&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=lake+mills+wisconsin&amp;amp;source=lnms&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;ei=Vm3cUo_6G-rd2AWCjYC4Cg&amp;amp;ved=0CAYQ_AUoAA&amp;amp;biw=1429&amp;amp;bih=642&amp;amp;dpr=0.9" target="_blank"&gt;Google Maps,&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uto-Aztecan_languages" target="_blank"&gt;Wikipedia&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.organmtnfriends.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Disturnell-map.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;1848 map,&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://users.skynet.be/fa039055/tanner03.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;translated map&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WI/data/images/TEIr/wiacrev/V37/reference/WAR0370303101r.jpeg" target="_blank"&gt;Aztalan map&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Addendum:&amp;nbsp; My artist friend Mike read this post and thought it was too snarky.&amp;nbsp; Then he watched the episode, and thought it wasn't snarky enough!&amp;nbsp; He did point out one thing I missed...that apparently some of the research for the episode involved reading beer labels.&amp;nbsp; I did mention the labels but I wasn't thinking about the absurdity of beer labels as sources for historical fact.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cross-posted to &lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/articles/underpyramids.html" target="_blank"&gt;Transformations by Obsidian Butterfly web site&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
1210. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
1211. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1212.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">america unearthed</category>
1213.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">anthropology</category>
1214.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aztalan</category>
1215.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Aztec</category>
1216.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aztec migration</category>
1217.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aztlan</category>
1218.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">geology</category>
1219.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">h2</category>
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1226.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rock lake mystery</category>
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1230.      <pubDate>Mon, 20 Jan 2014 02:16:00 GMT</pubDate>
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1234.      <dc:date>2014-01-20T02:16:00Z</dc:date>
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1237.      <title>About section rewritten and updated })i({</title>
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1239.      <description>Updated and revised the About section.  Enjoy.</description>
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1255.      <description>All the metaphysical articles have been reposted in the  new format.  A few new ones have been added.  The article listing page has not been updated yet.</description>
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1259.    </item>
1260.    <item>
1261.      <title>Awesome Tzolkin posters added to Merchandise page!</title>
1262.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533313</link>
1263.      <description>Two versions of a new Tzolkin Tonalpohualli Calendar poster are now available through Zazzle and links are posted on the Merchandise page, along with links to all our other other Meso-themed products.</description>
1264.      <pubDate>Sat, 04 Jan 2014 19:44:00 GMT</pubDate>
1265.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533313</guid>
1266.      <dc:date>2014-01-04T19:44:00Z</dc:date>
1267.    </item>
1268.    <item>
1269.      <title>Vote for me!</title>
1270.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/12/vote-for-me.html</link>
1271.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
1272.      <content:encoded>If I win I will donate the money to Alzheimer's research.  Thank you. You can vote once per day with Twitter and with Facebook.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="center" style="width: 100%px;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="center" valign="top" width="100%"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health/best-health-blogs-contest-id?id=256"&gt;&lt;img alt="Best health blogs 2013" border="0" src="http://www.nygeeks.info/bc/images/big_winner_1.jpg" width="344" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Healthline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1273. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1274. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1275.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1276.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1277.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">award</category>
1278.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">awards</category>
1279.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">vote</category>
1280.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">voting</category>
1281.      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Dec 2013 02:07:00 GMT</pubDate>
1282.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1283.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-6657408169643323780</guid>
1284.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1285.      <dc:date>2013-12-12T02:07:00Z</dc:date>
1286.    </item>
1287.    <item>
1288.      <title>“Stand your ground” against dementia patients!</title>
1289.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/12/stand-your-ground-against-dementia.html</link>
1290.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0zRnJgd4Uss/UqkNGzfTu6I/AAAAAAAABVo/GrordIvJvzA/s72-c/RonaldWestbrook.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1291.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1292.      <content:encoded>&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0zRnJgd4Uss/UqkNGzfTu6I/AAAAAAAABVo/GrordIvJvzA/s1600/RonaldWestbrook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0zRnJgd4Uss/UqkNGzfTu6I/AAAAAAAABVo/GrordIvJvzA/s1600/RonaldWestbrook.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;Mr Ronald Westbrook&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;This should  never have happened, and it makes me indescribably sad.  &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Ronald Westbrook, age 72, a man with advanced Alzheimer’s, was shot in the chest 4 times as an intruder under the “stand your ground” line of thinking where you can shoot anyone you feel is threatening you. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;  No charges were filed against the shooter.&lt;br /&gt;Mr. Westbrook wandered from his home in the middle of a cold night, dressed inappropriately for the weather, with his two dogs.  At 2:30 a.m. a police officer questioned him but apparently was satisfied that the man lived in the area and was walking his dogs.&lt;br /&gt;About 90 minutes later, 34-year-old Joe Hendrix heard a knock on his door.  &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Perceiving a threat, he called the police and then went outside to confront the intruder—an elderly man wearing thin clothing, carrying some mail, with two dogs.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;  Hendrix decided the confused senior citizen was “coming right for him” (as they say on &lt;a href="http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/149674/its-coming-right-for-us" target="_blank"&gt;South Park&lt;/a&gt; as a defense against shooting anything)  and shot him four times in the chest with a .40 caliber handgun. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;“Under Georgia law, people are not required to try retreating from a potential conflict before opening fire to defend themselves from serious imminent harm," said Russell Gabriel, director of the Criminal Defense Clinic at the University of Georgia. State law allows people to use lethal force to stop someone from forcibly entering a home if those inside reasonably fear they are going to be attacked. Deadly force can even be used to stop someone from trying to forcibly enter a home to commit a felony.” &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My best friend grew up in the boondocks of Pennsylvania, a place full of gun-toting rednecks from which she escaped as soon as she graduated from high school.  She was taught how to use a gun when she was seven years old, and to respect a gun, and when not to shoot a gun.  When I told her about this story she was appalled on many levels. &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;  I’m not a “no one should have guns” person, but there should be rules…and one of the rules shouldn’t be “it’s coming right for us” so let’s shoot it, straight out of South Park.   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;She said if everyone was properly taught to use and respect firearms as children, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AKIPs1heiCU/UqkNHtTLElI/AAAAAAAABVw/ZX1ZzgZIvdw/s1600/alzheimersshotNEWS.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AKIPs1heiCU/UqkNHtTLElI/AAAAAAAABVw/ZX1ZzgZIvdw/s1600/alzheimersshotNEWS.png" height="320" width="62" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The shooter, even though he killed an unarmed, sick, elderly man, was not charged with a crime.&amp;nbsp; I know I said that before, but I'm still in disbelief.&lt;br /&gt;Long-time readers know that my dad "escaped" twice from my mom.&amp;nbsp; Once he was angry, once he thought he knew where he was going but got confused and lost.&amp;nbsp; Both times he was returned to us unharmed; we were probably more frightened than he was.&amp;nbsp; I can't imagine the phone call to his poor wife, who hadn't realized he was missing.&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; "Ma'am, your husband left your house and was shot to death.&amp;nbsp; Sorry about that."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Would Mr. Westbrook have died a horrible death like my dad?&amp;nbsp; Perhaps.&amp;nbsp; Or perhaps not.&amp;nbsp; Even if that was the case, he shouldn't have been shot.&amp;nbsp; He was probably scared and or confused.&amp;nbsp; One article said he used to live there at the Hendrix residence, or thought he did.&amp;nbsp; Maybe he thought he was home.&amp;nbsp; Then &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;a strange man came outside, shouting things at him that his poor old brain couldn't process, and instead of helping him or welcoming him, the man from inside the house shot the old man to death.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;His wife was a nurse, well-qualified to be caring for him at home.&amp;nbsp; She had the doors alarmed.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There's no mention I can find of how he defeated the door alarms and got out of the house.&amp;nbsp; But there didn't seem to be a reason for him to be in a nursing home, or that his wife could no longer handle his care.&lt;br /&gt;This is just heartbreaking, and yet the news cycle was all about some guy from a movie about driving fast dying in a car accident while driving fast.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;(I read several articles about this, some with varying details.&amp;nbsp; I picked the best one to showcase here.)&lt;br /&gt;enlarge article &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20921690@N04/11331751656/" target="_blank"&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/08/suffering-from-alzheimers_n_4407760.html" target="_blank"&gt;Original URL and photo source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2014/03/stand-your-ground-follow-up.html" target="_blank"&gt;FOLLOW-UP &lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1293. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1294. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1295.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1296.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1297.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
1298.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1299.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">news</category>
1300.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">shooting</category>
1301.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">stand your ground</category>
1302.      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Dec 2013 01:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
1303.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1304.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-2391731953572549999</guid>
1305.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1306.      <dc:date>2013-12-12T01:38:00Z</dc:date>
1307.    </item>
1308.    <item>
1309.      <title>Stroke damage = vascular dementia</title>
1310.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/12/stroke-damage-vascular-dementia.html</link>
1311.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LlwOCgKv05c/UqkIXEg0EdI/AAAAAAAABVc/V4RYFGdjVGg/s72-c/Stroke.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1312.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1313.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LlwOCgKv05c/UqkIXEg0EdI/AAAAAAAABVc/V4RYFGdjVGg/s1600/Stroke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LlwOCgKv05c/UqkIXEg0EdI/AAAAAAAABVc/V4RYFGdjVGg/s1600/Stroke.jpg" height="268" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hfPX3gRFryA/UqkINy6HTaI/AAAAAAAABVU/9tukPsdZsuY/s1600/Stroke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YlKmDIvMdWI/UqkH9na993I/AAAAAAAABVM/Kl9axZwkN4M/s1600/Stroke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;An update on Alzheimer’s Aunt:  after many delays, &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;she finally went to a throat specialist.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;  He found that her throat was 60% closed (if I understand it correctly; this is 3d hand information filtered through her) and she has one or more throat polyps.   He “opened” her throat while she was under anesthesia and then she was required to take some “suspension” drug for 30 days.  Turns out her insurance didn’t pay for that drug and it was $300 so someone made the decision simply not to get it for her.&lt;br /&gt;Fast forward two weeks to Thanksgiving at my mom’s house.  I was sick that whole week and my mom was going to move the turkey dinner to Sunday, but Alzheimer’s Aunt decided she was coming so we couldn’t cancel.   I didn’t feel like being with people or eating, but as a dutiful daughter I went to see my mom and my cousin (and my aunt, I guess). I didn’t much feel like eating—I had been sick for 5 days at that point, sleeping about 20 hours a day due to intense pain in my head (probably, looking back, I had a sinus infection, but between the holiday and the weekend there was no way to get to a doctor and on Monday I was getting better already).  I took a very small amount of food just to be polite.  &lt;br /&gt;Alzheimer’s Aunt loaded up her plate with everything.  My mom had accidently bought a six pack of caffeine-free Pepsi instead of caffeine-free Diet Pepsi and since Alzheimer’s Aunt is a Pepsi fanatic (addict) my mom offered it to her.&lt;br /&gt;I had finished about half my meager plate when Aunt started to hiccup.  I pushed the plate away and walked into the living room and laid on the couch.  When someone asked why, I said, “I don’t want to be trampled” meaning by her when she starts to vomit and that was taken as a joke.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Did Alzheimer’s Aunt stop eating when she started hiccupping?  No of course  not.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;  She kept shoveling food into her mouth, just like the time with the donut.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;I’m going to do an aside here.  If, as part of his Alzheimer’s, my dad had started to choke and “spit up” when he ate, and he had a clear warning sign such as hiccups, there is no way I would allow him to keep eating or to stay at the table once the warning bell commenced.  He would be immediately told, “Bob, go into the bathroom.”  If he didn’t go, he’d be led there.  Of course, my cousins would say that’s a perfect example of me “being mean” to my dad, while I see it as an example of taking care of someone who can’t take care of himself.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finally the people remaining at the table persuaded her to get up.  Instead of going into the bathroom, she went the other way, into the kitchen. Meaning to get to the bathroom she would have to then go through the crowded dining room.  Of course, while in the kitchen, it started.&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;  She forced her way through the dining room, spewing and gagging, into the bathroom. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;This happened at least 4 times.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;  (I went to sleep on the couch.)   I don’t know how much of a mess she made in my mom’s bathroom, but last time she left it there for someone else to clean up (actually I cleaned it and told my mom after). &lt;br /&gt;I was invited back to the table for dessert but between being sick and hearing puking, I declined. My cousin commented to her mother, “I noticed that you get sick when you drink soda or eat bread.  The other night you drank water and didn’t eat bread and you were okay.”  Alzheimer’s Aunt’s instant response: “I didn’t eat bread.”  “You were eating stuffing, that’s bread, and you drank several cans of Pepsi.”  “I didn’t eat bread.”&lt;br /&gt;Sigh.&lt;br /&gt;I wonder if, 2 weeks before, if she had been giving the prescribed drug, if she would not have been “spitting up” all over the place on Thanksgiving.  I can only assume the procedure failed, whether due to the lack of the drug or some other reason.&lt;br /&gt;Aunt was talking about the throat procedure.&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;  She said, “I thought I had throat cancer all this time!”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt; I was dumbfounded.  If I thought I had cancer, I wouldn’t wait TWO YEARS and LIE to my doctor about symptoms.  I wouldn’t even wait two weeks, not after I saw my friend lose her mom in 13 days from cancer—less than two weeks from diagnosis to death last year.  Seemingly fine at Thanksgiving, dead by Christmas.  &lt;br /&gt;Since Thanksgiving, there has been another bout of &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;“go check on her, she’s dead”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt; wherein it was found that &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;she had left her traditional phone off the hook and turned off her cell phone.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;  My cousin said, “she can’t understand that she needs to hang up the phone because she lost so much comprehension due to the strokes.”  I said, “Yes, that’s vascular dementia.”  “No, &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;my mother doesn’t have dementia!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;  She’s not like your dad.”  (well that much is true)  Well, according to &lt;a href="http://www.helpguide.org/elder/vascular_dementia.htm" target="_blank"&gt;this site&lt;/a&gt; and many others, &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;“Stroke, small vessel disease, or a mixture of the two can cause vascular dementia.”&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;  That seems pretty straightforward to me. &lt;br /&gt;In other Alzheimer’s Aunt news, one of her out-of-state children has decided to move back into the hoarded house and get it fit for habitation.  Then she is going to give up her apartment (she’s been there what, a month?) and move back in with her child and child-in-law as caregivers.  The house has been about 90% cleaned out (3 overflowing 25-yard dumpsters of trash) but there’s still a whole room of things she “has to have” and of course the place is filthy beyond imagining, smells horrible, and needs pretty much everything done—floors refinished/replaced, bathroom remodeled downstairs for her use, everything else scrubbed and/or painted and/or replaced.   Good luck to the two of them moving in there.  I wouldn’t live there even for free like they will be. &lt;br /&gt;(I am going to continue calling her Alzheimer’s Aunt because it has a nice ring and Dementia Aunt is ugly.  I know now she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s, of course.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.healthtap.com/#experts/11154537-dr-arthur-l-jenkins" target="_blank"&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1314. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1315. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1316.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1317.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers aunt</category>
1318.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1319.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1320.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">holidays</category>
1321.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">illness</category>
1322.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">vascular dementia</category>
1323.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">vomiting</category>
1324.      <pubDate>Thu, 12 Dec 2013 00:55:00 GMT</pubDate>
1325.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1326.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-5970570985521110774</guid>
1327.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1328.      <dc:date>2013-12-12T00:55:00Z</dc:date>
1329.    </item>
1330.    <item>
1331.      <title>5 years</title>
1332.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/11/5-years.html</link>
1333.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1334.      <content:encoded>Five years ago today, my dad died.&amp;nbsp; He was in one of my dreams the other night and I got to hug him.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It's taken a long time to feel really okay about all this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(revision:&amp;nbsp; I wrote this when I was terribly ill, which accounts for the fact that it's actually been SIX&amp;nbsp; years since he died.&amp;nbsp; Leaving it as-is.) &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1335. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1336. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1337.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1338.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1339.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">anniversary</category>
1340.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
1341.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1342.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">loss</category>
1343.      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Nov 2013 03:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
1344.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1345.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-826837958018031803</guid>
1346.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1347.      <dc:date>2013-11-27T03:38:00Z</dc:date>
1348.    </item>
1349.    <item>
1350.      <title>The Rat (revised), The Bear (new) uploaded today })i({</title>
1351.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533291</link>
1352.      <description>Two related animal stories, about ants and rats and mice and birds and woodchucks and ancient Indian burial grounds and my friend from Florida.  The bear one is funny, the rat one is angry.  })i({</description>
1353.      <pubDate>Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
1354.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533291</guid>
1355.      <dc:date>2013-11-24T20:00:00Z</dc:date>
1356.    </item>
1357.    <item>
1358.      <title>Paganism, I am a Witch, Happy Holidays (new)  })i({</title>
1359.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533290</link>
1360.      <description>Split the paganism article into two pages, Eclectic Paganism and the I am a Witch letter.  Wrote a new article about Happy Holidays vs. Merry Christmas.   Enjoy!  })i({</description>
1361.      <pubDate>Sun, 24 Nov 2013 18:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
1362.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533290</guid>
1363.      <dc:date>2013-11-24T18:00:00Z</dc:date>
1364.    </item>
1365.    <item>
1366.      <title>Energy Sea, Fear, and Energy Healing updated today })i({</title>
1367.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533289</link>
1368.      <description>Updated the articles on the Energy Sea, Fear-based Religion, and How Energy Healing Works today.   Had a power outage, lost the next three pages that were in progress, hoping to start those pages again tomorrow.</description>
1369.      <pubDate>Sat, 23 Nov 2013 19:37:00 GMT</pubDate>
1370.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533289</guid>
1371.      <dc:date>2013-11-23T19:37:00Z</dc:date>
1372.    </item>
1373.    <item>
1374.      <title>Article section is being converted })i({</title>
1375.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533287</link>
1376.      <description>Individual articles are slowly being converted.  They are being edited and in some cases graphics have been added.  Sacred Geometry, Meeting a God, 100 Monkeys, Akashic Records, and Atlantis have all be updated.</description>
1377.      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
1378.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533287</guid>
1379.      <dc:date>2013-11-22T19:39:00Z</dc:date>
1380.    </item>
1381.    <item>
1382.      <title>Offerings section has all been converted  })i({</title>
1383.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533286</link>
1384.      <description>The section on Offerings has all been converted.  Some new pages will be added once the rest of the site is updated to new format. })i({</description>
1385.      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
1386.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533286</guid>
1387.      <dc:date>2013-11-22T19:38:00Z</dc:date>
1388.    </item>
1389.    <item>
1390.      <title>articles converted today--colors and knots })i({</title>
1391.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533288</link>
1392.      <description>Healing and Color Magick; 60 Mini Celtic Knots (under Art); Drawing Closed Celtic Knotwork; Drawing Open Celtic Knotwork</description>
1393.      <pubDate>Fri, 22 Nov 2013 19:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
1394.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533288</guid>
1395.      <dc:date>2013-11-22T19:00:00Z</dc:date>
1396.    </item>
1397.    <item>
1398.      <title>six pages of Celtic Knotwork added</title>
1399.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533285</link>
1400.      <description>Six pages of digital and hand-drawn Celtic Knotwork samples added to the Art section of Transformations by Obsidian Butterfly.  })i({</description>
1401.      <pubDate>Wed, 06 Nov 2013 20:41:00 GMT</pubDate>
1402.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533285</guid>
1403.      <dc:date>2013-11-06T20:41:00Z</dc:date>
1404.    </item>
1405.    <item>
1406.      <title>Art section of Transformations has been updated</title>
1407.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533284</link>
1408.      <description>This section was formerly called "fun" and since I'm trying to keep the internal structure the same (for links to old version) the html has not been renamed.  })i({</description>
1409.      <pubDate>Tue, 05 Nov 2013 19:51:00 GMT</pubDate>
1410.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533284</guid>
1411.      <dc:date>2013-11-05T19:51:00Z</dc:date>
1412.    </item>
1413.    <item>
1414.      <title>transition to new look has begun!</title>
1415.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533283</link>
1416.      <description>Web site is being updated to match the look of the other two sites.  Many pages, will take a while.  Thanks for your patience while the pages are mismatched.
1417. Updated today: home page and QR code landing pages.  })i({</description>
1418.      <pubDate>Mon, 04 Nov 2013 21:24:00 GMT</pubDate>
1419.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533283</guid>
1420.      <dc:date>2013-11-04T21:24:00Z</dc:date>
1421.    </item>
1422.    <item>
1423.      <title>Jaguar Nights site is finished!</title>
1424.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533312</link>
1425.      <description>The Jaguar Nights site is finished!  More things will be added as new books are written.   Thank you for your patience.  })i({</description>
1426.      <pubDate>Sun, 03 Nov 2013 19:17:00 GMT</pubDate>
1427.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533312</guid>
1428.      <dc:date>2013-11-03T19:17:00Z</dc:date>
1429.    </item>
1430.    <item>
1431.      <title>Jaguar Nights Extras page is up</title>
1432.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533311</link>
1433.      <description>Charts, freebies, and more, relating to the Jaguar Nights series of Mayan-Aztec calendars.  })i({</description>
1434.      <pubDate>Sat, 02 Nov 2013 18:44:00 GMT</pubDate>
1435.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533311</guid>
1436.      <dc:date>2013-11-02T18:44:00Z</dc:date>
1437.    </item>
1438.    <item>
1439.      <title>Jaguar Nights Oracle page is up</title>
1440.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533310</link>
1441.      <description>Information on the upcoming Jaguar Nights Oracle card and book set. })i({</description>
1442.      <pubDate>Sat, 02 Nov 2013 18:43:00 GMT</pubDate>
1443.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533310</guid>
1444.      <dc:date>2013-11-02T18:43:00Z</dc:date>
1445.    </item>
1446.    <item>
1447.      <title>Jaguar Nights Companions page is up</title>
1448.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533309</link>
1449.      <description>New web page for the Jaguar Nights Companions series of e-books.
1450. })i({</description>
1451.      <pubDate>Sat, 02 Nov 2013 18:28:00 GMT</pubDate>
1452.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533309</guid>
1453.      <dc:date>2013-11-02T18:28:00Z</dc:date>
1454.    </item>
1455.    <item>
1456.      <title>Jaguar Nights Journey page is up</title>
1457.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533308</link>
1458.      <description>Page for Jaguar Nights: Journey through the Tzolkin is up!  Information has been removed from ObsidianButterfly.com })i({</description>
1459.      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Oct 2013 21:28:00 GMT</pubDate>
1460.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533308</guid>
1461.      <dc:date>2013-10-30T21:28:00Z</dc:date>
1462.    </item>
1463.    <item>
1464.      <title>Jaguar Nights calendar series has its own web site</title>
1465.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533282</link>
1466.      <description>The Jaguar Nights calendar series now has its own web site.  Material from ObsidianButterfly.com is being transitioned to there.  })i({</description>
1467.      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Oct 2013 18:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
1468.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533282</guid>
1469.      <dc:date>2013-10-30T18:38:00Z</dc:date>
1470.    </item>
1471.    <item>
1472.      <title>Calendar pages are now live on JaguarNights.info</title>
1473.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533307</link>
1474.      <description>Calendar index, 2014, 2013, and out-of-print calendar pages are now up.  Thank you for your patience!  })i({</description>
1475.      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Oct 2013 21:06:00 GMT</pubDate>
1476.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533307</guid>
1477.      <dc:date>2013-10-29T21:06:00Z</dc:date>
1478.    </item>
1479.    <item>
1480.      <title>the swooping flying falling dream</title>
1481.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-swooping-flying-falling-dream.html</link>
1482.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rkFrqyHiVVE/Um_9KsWsK2I/AAAAAAAABUc/6sZbrrCB57E/s72-c/dream.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1483.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1484.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rkFrqyHiVVE/Um_9KsWsK2I/AAAAAAAABUc/6sZbrrCB57E/s1600/dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rkFrqyHiVVE/Um_9KsWsK2I/AAAAAAAABUc/6sZbrrCB57E/s200/dream.jpg" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Everyone has a form of this dream, I think.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The swooping/flying/falling nightmare.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I had it last night.&lt;br /&gt;At the beginning of the dream, I was at my mom's house looking outside at her garden. The garden was full of frogs, all kinds of frogs, sitting on leaves and on decorations and on the ground.&amp;nbsp; I went outside because one of the frogs was very appealing to me, and&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;this frog came over to me and clearly wanted to be my pet.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; I took it inside.&amp;nbsp; I also had some kind of pet lizard inside.&lt;br /&gt;It was time for me to go to the &lt;a href="http://www.myasc.org/fairs.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Astrological Society of Connecticut's New Age Fair,&lt;/a&gt; where IRL I am a vendor every quarter, selling my &lt;a href="http://www.jaguarnights.info/" target="_blank"&gt;books on the Mayan-Aztec calendar &lt;/a&gt;and artwork along with my artist Mike.&amp;nbsp; For whatever reason, I brought the new frog and the lizard and some other small creatures.&amp;nbsp; They were in a shallow round container covered with a black cloth.&lt;br /&gt;The fair was held in a dream building.&amp;nbsp; Some lady kept putting her things onto my vendor table, worse yet, putting them on top of my pets, and I was very upset that the frog and lizard and other critters would be injured or killed.&lt;br /&gt;The day before the fair, &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen" target="_blank"&gt;Leonard Cohen&lt;/a&gt;, the singer, had died.&amp;nbsp; (As I am writing this, he is very much alive, although &lt;a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-velvet-underground-leader-and-rock-pioneer-dead-at-71-20131027" target="_blank"&gt;Lou Reed&lt;/a&gt; just died, who is not in any way the same person.)&amp;nbsp; Apparently the way to commemorate this singer's death is to have &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;line dancing&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;at a New Age fair.&amp;nbsp; I am not into line dancing.&amp;nbsp; I was in the line, though, ready to do my duty, when people started to notice that there were cavities in the walls and everyone went into those cavities, because apparently&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;acting like a rat&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;is also a good way to commemorate the death of an awesome singer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;Inside the walls were a series of curved tunnels, stairs, spirals, and ladders. It was like a giant fun house.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: black;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Everything was around a blind corner.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt; Y&lt;/span&gt;ou'd be spiraling up and next thing you'd turn a corner and be sliding down.&amp;nbsp; I was following two young girls.&amp;nbsp; We went up and then around a corner was a short ladder going down.&amp;nbsp; We climbed down the ladder and at the bottom was the mouth of a closed slide, like a water slide. They fit into it easily and were on their way but &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;I was too fat.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; I had &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;no choice&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;but to climb back up the ladder. But as I climbed it, it got longer and longer, and went further and further away from the wall.&amp;nbsp; Finally&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;I was at the top of an immensely tall ladder, like an Indian monk doing a rope trick&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;, and I was outside the building.&amp;nbsp; The ladder was free-standing, but wobbling.&amp;nbsp; I had a bit of lucid dreaming then--&lt;i&gt;oh shit here it comes&lt;/i&gt;--and then the ladder started to lean toward the building.&amp;nbsp; I could see that I had to aim myself at a very small window.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;I was swooping, I was flying, it was awful.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;And I woke up.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've also had varieties of this dream where I'm on a trampoline, or the high dive at a pool, and every jump I go higher and higher and get more and more scared but I have such momentum I can't stop. &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The going up is bad, the short hover at the top is terrible, and the falling, falling, falling in a great arc is the worse.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My husband was watching one of the&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackass:_The_Movie" target="_blank"&gt; Jackass movies&lt;/a&gt; once.&amp;nbsp; They were doing this stunt where they bounced people off a huge air pillow into a lake.&amp;nbsp; They put a camera on one person so the viewer could experience it.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;And although I have never swooped or flown (except in a jet) or fallen from a great height, the view from that camera was EXACTLY like my dreams.&amp;nbsp; To the point where I could not watch the movie until that segment was over.&lt;br /&gt;According to the online &lt;a href="http://www.dreamdictionary.org/common/falling-dreams/" target="_blank"&gt;Dream Dictionary&lt;/a&gt;,&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; &lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;a falling dream means you feel like your life is out of control.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Something horrible happened to me last night, something beyond my control, something that I see as a betrayal, so that doesn't surprise me.&amp;nbsp; Their information on frogs and ladders was less than helpful, nothing on lizards, new age fairs, swooping, or deep-voiced singers.&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://astralprojectionguides.com/wp-content/uploads/lucid-dream-flying.jpg" target="_blank"&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
1485. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
1486. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1487.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dream</category>
1488.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dying</category>
1489.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">falling</category>
1490.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">swooping</category>
1491.      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Oct 2013 18:28:00 GMT</pubDate>
1492.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1493.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-3113913133092488138</guid>
1494.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1495.      <dc:date>2013-10-29T18:28:00Z</dc:date>
1496.    </item>
1497.    <item>
1498.      <title>New Website Design uploaded</title>
1499.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533306</link>
1500.      <description>The new site design is more or less complete and pages will be added in the next few days.  })i({</description>
1501.      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Oct 2013 20:50:00 GMT</pubDate>
1502.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533306</guid>
1503.      <dc:date>2013-10-28T20:50:00Z</dc:date>
1504.    </item>
1505.    <item>
1506.      <title>Chicken Soup for the Soul; Living with Alzheimer's and other Dementias</title>
1507.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/10/chicken-soup-for-soul-living-with.html</link>
1508.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy5MXQ1TY1M/UlHoyCyRuNI/AAAAAAAABUE/HEwyoI7_zYQ/s72-c/chickensoup.png" height="72" width="72" />
1509.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1510.      <content:encoded>I just submitted a story about my dad to the new&lt;a href="http://www.chickensoup.com/cs.asp?cid=comingsoon" target="_blank"&gt; &lt;i&gt;Chicken Soup for the Soul&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/a&gt; book, which is dementia/Alzheimer's themed.&amp;nbsp; I'd like it to be in the book, of course... but if it doesn't make it, I'll post it here.&amp;nbsp; Wish me luck.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy5MXQ1TY1M/UlHoyCyRuNI/AAAAAAAABUE/HEwyoI7_zYQ/s1600/chickensoup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="136" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uy5MXQ1TY1M/UlHoyCyRuNI/AAAAAAAABUE/HEwyoI7_zYQ/s320/chickensoup.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1511. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1512. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1513.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1514.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1515.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">chicken soup for the soul</category>
1516.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1517.      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Oct 2013 22:49:00 GMT</pubDate>
1518.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1519.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8108507493922203774</guid>
1520.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1521.      <dc:date>2013-10-06T22:49:00Z</dc:date>
1522.    </item>
1523.    <item>
1524.      <title>Alzheimer's Aunt: A diagnosis</title>
1525.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/10/alzheimers-aunt-diagnosis.html</link>
1526.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fR-cVvE-hzI/UlHWBAPleAI/AAAAAAAABT0/4CZufwUe0O4/s72-c/stroke-signs.gif" height="72" width="72" />
1527.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1528.      <content:encoded>Almost two years after Alzheimer's Aunt started showing signs and symptoms of being extremely ill, something has finally been done.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;Before I explain that, I want to tell you about my last major encounters with her and her illness.&amp;nbsp; I haven't been writing about her much because frankly it makes me so sad and angry and it's all so pointless when nothing is being done.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Alzheimer's Aunt went on a trip, by herself, cross country, early this summer.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Direct flight (the thought of her trying to change planes is terrifying).&amp;nbsp; I ended up going along to navigate when one of my cousins drove her to the airport in New York City.&lt;br /&gt;The night before, I talked to my cousin.&amp;nbsp; "Are we making a Dunkin Donuts run before we pick her up?"&amp;nbsp; "We'll make it after."&amp;nbsp; "Um, do you think that's a good idea....?"&amp;nbsp; They don't like anyone to point out the vomiting so I tried to imply it delicately.&amp;nbsp; "Oh, she won't eat, it will be fine."&lt;br /&gt;6:30 a.m. we picked her up and headed to the donut shop.&amp;nbsp; Of course she wanted something.&amp;nbsp; I stayed in the car with her while my cousin went inside for everything.&amp;nbsp; He came out with my muffin and her donut, and our waters, went back in for his coffee and hot sandwich. &amp;nbsp; Alzheimer's Aunt opened the bag with her donut in it and held the donut over the top and proceeded it eat it in the most disgusting manner possible, literally shoving it into her mouth and chewing loudly with her mouth open--nom nom nom.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;She ate the whole donut before my cousin came back with the coffee!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We drove out of the donut place heading for the highway about a mile away.&amp;nbsp; About 150 yards from the Dunkin Donuts, she started to hiccup and choke.&amp;nbsp; We gave her water and pretty much immediately after that &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;she spewed vomit all over herself and the passenger side of the car and the console of the car&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I was in the back seat looking at the rest of my muffin and thinking how good of an eating deterrent Alzheimer's Aunt is. The car filled with the smell of vomit.&amp;nbsp; I wanted to cry.&amp;nbsp; We hadn't even left town yet.&lt;br /&gt;My cousin said, "Don't you think you should go home and change?"&lt;br /&gt;"Oh, should I?"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;No, we want to sit in the vomit-filled car with you, while you are covered in vomit, for a 100 mile drive to the airport.&amp;nbsp; Then some lucky people will sit next to stinky puke-covered you all the way to California.&amp;nbsp; That will be a real treat for them.&amp;nbsp; At the other end, your friend will pick you up and you'll get vomit in her car too and won't she be happy to see you then.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She finally agreed to go home and change while we mopped out the car, gagging.&lt;br /&gt;The trip to the airport started 40 minutes late because of this.&lt;br /&gt;All the way there she talked about things that happened over 40 years ago and neither of us cared.&amp;nbsp; I just sat in the back seat checking &lt;a href="https://www.waze.com/" target="_blank"&gt;WAZE&lt;/a&gt; for traffic jams while my cousin used a regular GPS unit for navigation.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;By the time we go to the airport, I really had to use the restroom.&amp;nbsp; My cousin was extricating Alzheimer's Aunt from the car with all her luggage.&amp;nbsp; She moves in slow motion.&amp;nbsp; I was hopping--I need to pee!--while she stood there confused looking at her bags. Finally we started to walk to the terminal.&amp;nbsp; We had to walk through a glass hallway, then across a street.&amp;nbsp; I was across the street and at the door (and remember that I walk slow because of a chronic leg problem) and they weren't even into the glass tunnel yet!&amp;nbsp; Finally they were close enough for me to shout that I'd meet them at the bench by the door after I used the bathroom and I ran before I embarrassed myself.&lt;br /&gt;The bathroom was in the opposite direction from where they went so it took me a few minutes to get to it. When I was done--ahhh--I went to sit at the bench I'd designated.&amp;nbsp; My cousin wasn't there.&amp;nbsp; Curious, I walked into the terminal a little way and there they were at the desk with the bags.&amp;nbsp; An argument was clearly in progress.&amp;nbsp; I threaded through the ropes past people.&amp;nbsp; Alzheimer's Aunt was clutching her ticket and other papers asking the same questions over and over.&amp;nbsp; The attendant looked like she didn't know if she should laugh or cry or get angry.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;My cousin wanted to walk her all the way through security and to the gate but without a ticket that's not allowed.&amp;nbsp; But just as clearly, there was no way she could do it alone.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; The gate was a high number, in the 20's, which means she would have to walk&amp;nbsp; more than 10 gates length of hallway to get to the correct one.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Finally they called for a wheelchair.&amp;nbsp; A nice man came with the wheelchair.&amp;nbsp; Alzheimer's Aunt stared at it.&amp;nbsp; "I don't know," she said, "I don't know how to do this, I haven't been in a wheelchair since I had my children," and stands there clearly vacillating on what to do.&amp;nbsp; Finally the guy grabbed her shoulder and kinda pushed her down into the chair.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;It's a chair.&amp;nbsp; You sit in it.&amp;nbsp; How can this be puzzling?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My cousin had to give all kinds of instructions to the guy with the wheelchair.&amp;nbsp; I was thinking, "he's going to walk her to the gate, dump her in a regular chair, and leave her.&amp;nbsp; He's not her keeper." but whatever.&lt;br /&gt;My cousin was so exhausted from the long drive and everything that we just sat there on the bench for about 15 minutes not moving.&amp;nbsp; He was almost crying, saying that he didn't know how she was going to make it through the flight and other airport alone.&amp;nbsp; But still, not admitting that MAYBE SOMETHING IS WRONG and of course I have to keep my lip zipped and cannot comment or make suggestions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;My hope, no matter how mean, was that in California she would display enough problems that her friends and family out there would demand something be done. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But two weeks later after she was home, no one was saying or doing anything different.&amp;nbsp; I shrugged, gave up again, went on with my life for a couple more weeks.&lt;br /&gt;Then I got a call at 9 a.m. to go over there and check on her.&amp;nbsp; I refused.&amp;nbsp; "She could be dead!&amp;nbsp; You have to go! She hasn't answered the phone in two days!"&amp;nbsp; "I don't want to.&amp;nbsp; She won't answer the door for me anyway."&amp;nbsp; "You have to!"&amp;nbsp; "Okay, say I go there and she doesn't answer the door.&amp;nbsp; So then I call the police and they break in.&amp;nbsp; If she's okay, they see the hoard and report her.&amp;nbsp; If she's not, now she's dead and then what should I do?"&amp;nbsp; "Oh no don't call the cops if she doesn't answer, call me back."&amp;nbsp; I went there, banged on the door (no doorbell), yelled, knocked, generally was obnoxious.&amp;nbsp; No answer.&amp;nbsp; Took out my phone: "she's not answering, was here banging for 10 minutes, your move."&amp;nbsp; That cousin tapped another cousin to "rush over".&lt;br /&gt;I had a lot of errands to run (which was one reason why I didn't want to waste time on Alzheimer's Aunt's false 4-alarm emergency) and I went and did them.&amp;nbsp; On the way home, I decided to drive by and if my other cousin was there, to stop in.&lt;br /&gt;No one was there, nothing looked different.&lt;br /&gt;When I got home, I called the first cousin and asked if the second cousin had found Alzheimer's Aunt okay in the house.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The answer?&amp;nbsp; "She's going over around 6 pm."&amp;nbsp; Wait, but it was urgent that I drop everything at 9 a.m. and go?&amp;nbsp; I felt very angry.&amp;nbsp; Walked away from the situation again.&amp;nbsp; Found out later that she did indeed hear me knocking but "didn't know who it was" (me yelling "It's Bert!" perhaps should have clued her in?) so didn't answer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;Then last week, everything changed.&lt;br /&gt;First, somehow, some of her local &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;friends got her to a doctor who decided she needed a colonoscopy&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; and upper GI endoscopy to find out what was happening with the vomiting.&amp;nbsp; I was floored when my cousin told me.&amp;nbsp; Apparently &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;she'd been vomiting copiously when out with those friends and lying to them saying she didn't have that problem anywhere else.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; She said the same thing to the people in California and of course said it to family here.&amp;nbsp; My thought is that some of the California friends called the Connecticut friends and spurred them into action.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Of course me suggesting that same course of action months ago (look back through my blog and see!) was derided and met with hostility. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've had a colonoscopy and they aren't fun--but the day before is much worse, when you have to not eat solid food all day and have to drink the 2 gallons of snot-like concoction.&amp;nbsp; I vomited half that stuff up, what was &lt;i&gt;she&lt;/i&gt; going to do?&amp;nbsp; My cousin said, as if it made perfect sense, that she had to call her mother at 6 a.m. to remind her not to eat that day and continue to call her all day and tell her not to eat and then at night call her about mixing and then drinking the purge.&amp;nbsp; Any normal person would put a note on the calendar; who needs to be called all day to be told these things?&amp;nbsp; Again, I bit my lip.&lt;br /&gt;She also had another appointment with an eye specialist.&amp;nbsp; Don't forget her being blind!&amp;nbsp; Although the eye doctors all said her vision was perfect, she complained constantly that she couldn't see or read.&lt;br /&gt;Monday one of my cousins called her to remind her that the eye appointment was that day.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Alzheimer's Aunt was even more confused than usual, arguing that it was another day (the day of the colonoscopy) and also slurring her speech.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Alarmed, her daughter raced over there (at least she didn't call me).&amp;nbsp; One of her friends happened to be in the area and dropped in on her at virtually the same time.&amp;nbsp; They piled her into a car and drove her to an emergency clinic, where they took one look at her and put her in an ambulance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: x-large;"&gt;She had had a stroke.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When  she got to the hospital, finally she had the CT scans and MRIs I'd been  saying for TWO YEARS that she needed, since she collapsed.&amp;nbsp; And,  amazingly, the scans showed that &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;she  had been having strokes all this time.&amp;nbsp; And the brain damage was in her  visual cortex causing her blindness.&amp;nbsp; And one of the signs of stroke is  vomiting.&amp;nbsp; And weakness in the legs.&amp;nbsp; And mental confusion.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; (see handy graphic) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fR-cVvE-hzI/UlHWBAPleAI/AAAAAAAABT0/4CZufwUe0O4/s1600/stroke-signs.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="292" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fR-cVvE-hzI/UlHWBAPleAI/AAAAAAAABT0/4CZufwUe0O4/s320/stroke-signs.gif" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now her family springs into action.&amp;nbsp; They have to be at the hospital with her every minute of every day.&amp;nbsp; Her copious vomiting is rebranded as "spitting up." (I refuse to say it and get stared at angrily every time I say "vomit" and corrected in a frosty voice "Spitting up.")&lt;br /&gt;Now the house is going to get cleaned.&amp;nbsp; Now she is going to move out.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Now they all admit how worried they've been for 2 years but didn't know what to do (and wouldn't listen to me).&amp;nbsp; I really want to be a total bitch and scream I TOLD YOU SO but I won't.&amp;nbsp; What will it accomplish, nothing.&lt;br /&gt;Now she needs speech therapy and occupational therapy and physical therapy and has to go into a rehab facility for 100 days.&amp;nbsp; Now she can never live alone again.&lt;br /&gt;Except.&lt;br /&gt;That her family quickly went into a weird denial again once she got into the rehab facility.&amp;nbsp; "Well the therapists say she could 100% regain function, maybe she can go home."&amp;nbsp; And cleaning gets put on hold.&amp;nbsp; I ask, "but isn't some of the damage from two years ago?"&amp;nbsp; "They said they can fix it all."&amp;nbsp; Glare.&amp;nbsp; How dare you, puny cousin who knows nothing about anything, say different.&lt;br /&gt;One of my cousins actually said "I was secretly worried about dementia but she just had a stroke, thank god."&amp;nbsp; I said, "Brain damage from a stroke is called vascular dementia; she did and does have dementia."&amp;nbsp; Oh, the looks!&amp;nbsp; The anger!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I just have to be the one who says dementia instead of stroke, who says vomit instead of spit up.&lt;br /&gt;Right now the family's reaction is schizophrenic.&amp;nbsp; On the one hand, it's all "She had a STROKE, she can't be LEFT ALONE."&amp;nbsp; On the other hand, "She will be JUST FINE and HOME in NO TIME."&lt;br /&gt;Cognitive dissonance at its finest. &lt;br /&gt;I tried to explain that the nursing home doesn't want family members with her for every minute of visiting hours.&amp;nbsp; I paid, with my own money, for an MP3 player and loaded it with books and pointedly said, "Now she has something to occupy herself so she doesn't have to be bored and people don't have to be with her, entertaining her, at all times."&amp;nbsp; They actually said to me that they thought the audio books would DISTRACT her from getting better and they didn't want her to have them. But she was so happy she almost hugged the player.&amp;nbsp; I fully expect to find it smashed or lost within a week.&lt;br /&gt;Some of my cousins and I went out with some friends right after it happened.&amp;nbsp; These friends recently had a close family member have 7 strokes in 2 weeks and also had a grandfather in a nursing home for 22 months.&amp;nbsp; The talk was of Alzheimer's Aunt.&amp;nbsp; I spent the meal drawing on my napkin and chewing my inner cheek as they said things like&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; "Hindsight is 20/20"&amp;nbsp; "who could have known something was wrong?"&amp;nbsp; "if only she had a CT scan two years ago" and other platitudes.&amp;nbsp; I said all that, all along, and was silenced all along, and now they pretend I never said a word.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Alzheimer's Aunt had to spend a certain number of days in the hospital before she could get transferred to a rehab facility.&amp;nbsp; A local one agreed to take her and she was moved there a couple of days ago.&amp;nbsp; Family in constant attendance at hospital and now nursing home.&lt;br /&gt;I got woken up just before noon today with a screaming phone call. "No one was there with her all morning!&amp;nbsp; Why aren't you there?"&amp;nbsp; "I'm asleep, I was up late, and I'm about to go out with my mom and I was there until after 7 p.m. last night."&amp;nbsp; "Well you better be there by 3."&amp;nbsp; "I won't be home by then."&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;"She can't be left alone!"&amp;nbsp; Yes she CAN, she is in a NURSING HOME with professional staff all around her, she is not alone!&amp;nbsp; If you expect her to go live alone again, you need to give her some space now.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So that's the status as of today.&amp;nbsp; I'm here writing this and not visiting because I am an evil selfish bitch (yes, I was told that more than once) and everyone associated with Alzheimer's Aunt hates me because I don't do my share (she has several children and direct nieces and nephews, and I'm not one of them, btw--I'm another layer out) and I'm so mean and bossy always telling them what to do.&amp;nbsp; The fact that I was RIGHT all along, that she needed a brain scan, is ignored. &amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;I was hoping that once she was diagnosed things would calm down.&amp;nbsp; But her family seems to thrive on drama.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://womenshealth.gov/heart-health-stroke/images/stroke-signs.gif" target="_blank"&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1529. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1530. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1531.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1532.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1533.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">diagnosis</category>
1534.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">stroke</category>
1535.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">vascular dementia</category>
1536.      <pubDate>Sun, 06 Oct 2013 21:58:00 GMT</pubDate>
1537.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1538.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8990159107965613594</guid>
1539.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1540.      <dc:date>2013-10-06T21:58:00Z</dc:date>
1541.    </item>
1542.    <item>
1543.      <title>Encouraging new treatment for dementia is emerging</title>
1544.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/09/encouraging-new-treatment-for-dementia.html</link>
1545.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4xWeqJtpl4/Ui4crXQmSHI/AAAAAAAABR8/W2cTe5AEfag/s72-c/dementia_treatment_sept2013.png" height="72" width="72" />
1546.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total>
1547.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4xWeqJtpl4/Ui4crXQmSHI/AAAAAAAABR8/W2cTe5AEfag/s1600/dementia_treatment_sept2013.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o4xWeqJtpl4/Ui4crXQmSHI/AAAAAAAABR8/W2cTe5AEfag/s320/dementia_treatment_sept2013.png" width="101" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Some of my friends email me or post to me on Facebook when they see a science article talking about Alzheimer's or dementia, as everyone knows this is the cause nearest to my heart.&amp;nbsp; I do read them all.&amp;nbsp; Some I just shrug and say "yeah maybe" or "you wish" but this one...well, this one seems promising.&lt;br /&gt;I'll let the first paragraph of &lt;a href="http://beaker.sanfordburnham.org/2013/06/reversing-the-loss-of-brain-connections-in-alzheimers-disease/" target="_blank"&gt;the article &lt;/a&gt;speak for itself:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The first experimental drug to boost brain synapses lost in Alzheimer’s disease has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham. The drug, called NitroMemantine, combines two FDA-approved medicines to stop the destructive cascade of changes in the brain that destroys the connections between neurons, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To me, that means that they shouldn't have to get FDA approval, right?&amp;nbsp; This could be an off-label usage?&amp;nbsp; I'm trying to understand how the drugs are being combined.&amp;nbsp; I'm thinking of PhenFen, that diet drug that was two other drugs combined. (And it ended up killing people, didn't it? Maybe that's a bad example...)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;The decade-long study...shows that NitroMemantine can restore synapses, representing the connections between nerve cells (neurons) that have been lost during the progression of Alzheimer’s in the brain.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's A LOT to promise. &amp;nbsp; And they aren't done promising yet.&amp;nbsp; They are abandoing the old method of looking at the  "&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;amyloid beta plaques and neurofibrillary tangles&lt;/span&gt;" (what the drug my dad tested was looking at) in favor of something different.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;To try to dumb down the science in the article a bit, the researchers found that the plaques didn't harm the neurons directly, but they did cause an overabundance of a chemical (glutamate) to be released, and that overabundance is what harmed the neurons.&amp;nbsp; If I understand it correctly, it seems to burn out the "locks" (receptors) on the neurons that glutamate is the "key" to.&amp;nbsp; A drug called Metamine can target those receptors, but it turns out that an overdose of glutamate also causes the receptors to repel the Metamine, meaning it's not as effective as it should be.&amp;nbsp; The researchers also discovered that part of the nitroglycerine molecule (the heart drug) can also attach to that receptor.&amp;nbsp; Working together, the piece of nitro can allow the metamine to bond to the receptor and keep it from burning out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That would be good enough, to say that&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; it would stop dementia in its tracks&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; Have your loved one with a bit of impairment, maybe you have to drive him around or make a picture menu for the remote controls of the house, but better than the slow slide into oblivion that dementia offers now, right?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But wait, there's more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;By shutting down hyperactive eNMDA receptors on diseased neurons, NitroMemantine restores synapses between those neurons. “We show in this paper that memantine’s ability to protect synapses is limited,” (Stuart A) Lipton (MD, PhD) said, “but &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;NitroMemantine brings the number of synapses all the way back to normal within a few months of treatment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt; in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, the new drug really starts to work within hours.”&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yes, it RESTORE NEURONS TO NORMAL.&amp;nbsp; In mice for now. &amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20424722@N08/9712816932/" target="_blank"&gt;Screenprint of original article &lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1548. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1549. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1550.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1551.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1552.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cure</category>
1553.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1554.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">drugs</category>
1555.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">news</category>
1556.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">NitroMemantine</category>
1557.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">treatment</category>
1558.      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Sep 2013 19:27:00 GMT</pubDate>
1559.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1560.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8293765002356549030</guid>
1561.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1562.      <dc:date>2013-09-09T19:27:00Z</dc:date>
1563.    </item>
1564.    <item>
1565.      <title>Silver alert for missing man brings back memories</title>
1566.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/09/silver-alert-for-missing-man-brings.html</link>
1567.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7oDx89r6TN0/UiPBz2XVC_I/AAAAAAAAA4Q/aEtsy_nCi-o/s72-c/missingman1+copy.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1568.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
1569.      <content:encoded>Friday everyone around here was posting on FB that an elderly man, age 67, was missing from Southington, CT, a town about 20 miles away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7oDx89r6TN0/UiPBz2XVC_I/AAAAAAAAA4Q/aEtsy_nCi-o/s1600/missingman1+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7oDx89r6TN0/UiPBz2XVC_I/AAAAAAAAA4Q/aEtsy_nCi-o/s320/missingman1+copy.jpg" width="88" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #38761d;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;(Harold) Smith's family members are not sure what he was wearing when he left home, but he almost always wears black sneakers and white socks, according to police.   &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #38761d;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;.... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #38761d;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;Smith cannot read or write, but he does recognize his name, according to police, and frequents the downtown Southington area and Plantsville Center section of Southington. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Although no where does the article say he has dementia, from living with a dad and aunt, I can read between the lines.  Earlier versions of the article described him as very "approachable" but for some reason that's left out of this one.&lt;br /&gt;I was ready to drive to Southington myself and start looking for him.&amp;nbsp; He's the same age as my dad was when he died and in the picture he's wearing a green shirt.&amp;nbsp; Brought back so many memories of the two times my dad wandered off and how both times it wasn't the cops who found him but ordinary people who were looking like my mom's neighbors. &lt;br /&gt;It made me sad that he had been missing since Wednesday and people only started posting his picture on Friday night.&amp;nbsp; Maybe they were hoping he'd turn up.&amp;nbsp; Maybe his family was ashamed.&amp;nbsp; I don't know.&lt;br /&gt;Yesterday I was checking on and off all day to see if he'd been found and finally the news came that he was okay.&amp;nbsp; It's been so warm, which is just as worrisome as the freezing cold day my dad took off.&amp;nbsp; I was thinking they'd find him in a ditch or something awful.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3TLvOWX2yCc/UiPBzE-vMpI/AAAAAAAAA4M/RCH5RGV0csU/s1600/missingmanfound+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3TLvOWX2yCc/UiPBzE-vMpI/AAAAAAAAA4M/RCH5RGV0csU/s320/missingmanfound+copy.jpg" width="220" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;Harold Smith, 65, [sic] was found in the area of Blacks Road in Cheshire, after he approached a farm worker on Sunny Acres Farm. He told the worker that he had run away from home.... Smith told police that he left home and walked down the linear trail to Cheshire. He left the trail and then walked down Route 10 until he reached Blacks Road and entered a field on the Sunny Acre Farm. Smith found an unsecured abandoned vehicle and sought shelter inside it for three days. He then approached the farm worker after seeing him in the field.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looking at a map, it seems like he wandered at least 5 miles (by normal roads) into the next town.&amp;nbsp; I can only imagine his confusion as he sat in some junky old car for three days.&amp;nbsp; Was he angry at his family, hence the running away?&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;I hope the Smith family hugged him and loved him when he was returned to them and they didn't yell at him.&amp;nbsp; I also hope they investigate some kind of GPS system for tracking him and continue to let him take walks, as it seems like he likes to do.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20921690@N04/9647223417/lightbox/" target="_blank"&gt;full copy of missing article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/20921690@N04/9650458578/lightbox/" target="_blank"&gt;full copy of found article&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1570. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1571. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1572.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1573.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1574.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1575.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">missing</category>
1576.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">news</category>
1577.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">silver alert</category>
1578.      <pubDate>Sun, 01 Sep 2013 22:48:00 GMT</pubDate>
1579.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1580.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-2326664629586156889</guid>
1581.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1582.      <dc:date>2013-09-01T22:48:00Z</dc:date>
1583.    </item>
1584.    <item>
1585.      <title>August equals Alzheimer's Anniversaries</title>
1586.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/08/august-equals-alzheimers-anniversaries.html</link>
1587.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ISvV5mTEwk0/TkQek-j0slI/AAAAAAAAASc/2YPzMzrowHY/s72-c/elsewherebarweb.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1588.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
1589.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ISvV5mTEwk0/TkQek-j0slI/AAAAAAAAASc/2YPzMzrowHY/s1600/elsewherebarweb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ISvV5mTEwk0/TkQek-j0slI/AAAAAAAAASc/2YPzMzrowHY/s1600/elsewherebarweb.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;August is a month of anniversaries relating to Alzheimer's for me.&lt;/span&gt;My dad's birthday.  The anniversary of when his aunt died of dementia, right after my dad got diagnosed.  My parents' wedding anniversary, and also the anniversary of the next-to-last time he flipped out (the next one being the one that got him removed from the house a couple of weeks later).  Also the anniversary of when my dad's mother died, although she didn't have dementia that I know of, I believe she died of cancer (never met her even though she lived 1 town away and died when I was 16--long story). I lost a couple of pets in August too, my beloved black cat Zen and my sweet rainbow lorikeet Gwennie.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;So August, for a long time, has not been a happy month.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;And when I was a child, before any of those bad things happened, it was dreadful because it was the end of summer.&lt;br /&gt;August is a time of reflection for me, to remember all this stuff.&amp;nbsp; There's nothing to learn from it really, nothing to gain except making myself sad. &lt;br /&gt;And because I've been thinking about my dad a lot, since it's August, it's not surprising that he popped up in a really weird dream the other night.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; In the dream he came back to life, and he wasn't so dementia-y (is there such a word?) although he wasn't 100% back to normal, and he lived a few more years.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; I was walking up Route 5 going from car dealership to car dealership telling everyone that my dad was back alive again.&amp;nbsp; Because it did seem like he had died and been cremated but somehow came back from that.&amp;nbsp; And in real life, there is just about every car brand known to man available on Route 5, from BMW on the North Haven line to Cadillac and Hyundai on the Meriden line, and my dad worked for a lot of them in his 40 years in the business.&amp;nbsp; Why I would walk that 10 mile line instead of calling people is another dream mystery!&amp;nbsp; Then he died again, in the dream, and we had to hold his memorial service all over again.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;And I woke up thinking, &lt;i&gt;I never saw my dad dead&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; When I got to the nursing home his body had been removed from his room, and if it was still there (I imagine it was, it had only been an hour or so) they didn't offer to show me.&amp;nbsp; At the funeral home that afternoon, the director went and got me my dad's Alzheimer's alert bracelet, and it was cold like it was in a fridge, but again, I didn't see him.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Now I start getting all paranoid.&amp;nbsp; Did my dad really die in 2007?&amp;nbsp; Even though his bed was empty at the nursing home and he was in it 15 hours before, unresponsive, maybe they had moved him and it wasn't him who died...and he's been alone and unvisited for 5+ years in the nursing home...&lt;br /&gt;Gods, how awful would that be?&amp;nbsp; I can't even imagine it. &lt;br /&gt;I think it's a common wish-fulfillment kind of dream.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;We're getting to the time that my dad SHOULD have died.&amp;nbsp; He was diagnosed in 2004 and they said he'd live 9-11 years and that was 9 years ago.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; He should have still been with us.&amp;nbsp; And maybe if he hadn't hit his head twice, he would still be here, who knows?&amp;nbsp; Or he might have killed my mom or someone else.&amp;nbsp; No way to know.&lt;br /&gt;If there are other dimensions constantly spawning off, the lands of opposites, maybe in some of those worlds my dad's alive and okay.&lt;br /&gt;And maybe he's just in the Elsewhere Bar, having a birthday beer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Happy birthday, happy anniversary, wherever you are, Dad. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ha7EEhxfmJ8/UhtdoHU9LLI/AAAAAAAAA34/HI2t53YifdU/s1600/bestalzheimer2013+smaller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ha7EEhxfmJ8/UhtdoHU9LLI/AAAAAAAAA34/HI2t53YifdU/s1600/bestalzheimer2013+smaller.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1590. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1591. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1592.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1593.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1594.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">anniversary</category>
1595.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aunt</category>
1596.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">birthday</category>
1597.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
1598.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1599.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">elsewhere bar</category>
1600.      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:00 GMT</pubDate>
1601.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1602.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-1395461134905633477</guid>
1603.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1604.      <dc:date>2013-08-26T14:34:00Z</dc:date>
1605.    </item>
1606.    <item>
1607.      <title>Had a Dad Alzheimer's blog one of the best blogs of 2013</title>
1608.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/08/had-dad-alzheimers-blog-one-of-best.html</link>
1609.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ke5zfPk2ju4/UhsxOgryAEI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/I6PprIDCmAU/s72-c/bestalzheimer2013.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1610.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1611.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ke5zfPk2ju4/UhsxOgryAEI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/I6PprIDCmAU/s1600/bestalzheimer2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ke5zfPk2ju4/UhsxOgryAEI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/I6PprIDCmAU/s200/bestalzheimer2013.jpg" width="200" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;“Had a Dad” Alzheimer’s Blog Selected as One of the Best Health Blogs&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;From (Healthline)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;To   (Bert)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;Hi Bert,  Healthline editors recently published their final list of the top Alzheimer's blogs on the web for 2013 and “Had a Dad” Alzheimer’s Blog made the list. You can find the complete list at &lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/best-alzheimers-dementia-blogs" target="_blank"&gt;http://www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/best-alzheimers-dementia-blogs&lt;/a&gt; (in no particular order). We encourage you to share your newfound status as one of the best blogs on the web with your friends, family, &amp;amp; followers.  We also created a set of badges you can easily embed on your site anywhere else you see fit.Please let me know if you have any questions.  Congratulations!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;Warm Regards, (Healthline)&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;Twitter: &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%40healthline.com&amp;amp;src=typd" target="_blank"&gt;@healthline.com&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;Facebook:&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/healthlinenetworks" target="_blank"&gt;https://www.facebook.com/healthlinenetworks&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K6UbBKYCokI/UhtU6sCPDyI/AAAAAAAAA3o/25PfXP-2Wz4/s1600/2013HealthlineAwardScreenPrint.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K6UbBKYCokI/UhtU6sCPDyI/AAAAAAAAA3o/25PfXP-2Wz4/s320/2013HealthlineAwardScreenPrint.png" width="177" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1612. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1613. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1614.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2013</category>
1615.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimer's blog</category>
1616.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">award</category>
1617.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1618.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">healthline</category>
1619.      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Aug 2013 13:46:00 GMT</pubDate>
1620.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1621.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8977234594227202241</guid>
1622.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1623.      <dc:date>2013-08-26T13:46:00Z</dc:date>
1624.    </item>
1625.    <item>
1626.      <title>Invisible Illnesses and Special Treatment</title>
1627.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/07/invisible-illnesses-and-special.html</link>
1628.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4Gu5HMsVps/UePTAz3l0uI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/UIWajmtJmuE/s72-c/autismwhining.png" height="72" width="72" />
1629.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
1630.      <content:encoded>Two kinds of posts endlessly circulate on Facebook.&amp;nbsp; Both of them are quite whiny.&amp;nbsp; This one popped up yesterday and is representative of the &lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Type 1 post,&lt;i&gt; INVISIBLE ILLNESS&lt;/i&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;and is presented with odd spellings and punctuation exactly as everyone else posts it:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: x-small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;"Ignorant people can be so cruel!! I'm posting this because recently I  have been mocked and laughed at for things beyond my control... I have  three of these illnesses as does some of my friends.... Not one of my  Facebook friends will copy and paste (but I am counting on a true family  member or friend to do it). If you &lt;span class="text_exposed_show"&gt;would  be there for me no matter what then copy and paste this. I'm doing this  to prove a friend wrong that someone is always listening. I care. Hard  to explain to someone who has no clue. It's a daily struggle being in  pain or feeling sick on the inside while you look fine on the outside.  Please put this as your status for at least 1 hour if you or someone you  know has an invisible illness (IBS, Crohn's, PTSD, Anxiety, Arthritis,  Cancer, Heart Disease, Bipolar, Depression, Diabetes, Lupus,  Fibromyalgia, MS, AS, ME, , Epilepsy, hereditary angio edema , AUTISM,  Borderline personality disorder, M.D.,D.D.D., CFS, Histiocytosis,O.D.D,  A.D.H.D, RSD, PBC,RLS etc.) Never judge!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="text_exposed_show"&gt;I would add Alzheimer's to that, as early stage AD is also "invisible" (honestly, what does that even MEAN)?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="text_exposed_show"&gt;And then we get the &lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;Type 2 post, the &lt;i&gt;I'm not special enough&lt;/i&gt; one&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4Gu5HMsVps/UePTAz3l0uI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/UIWajmtJmuE/s1600/autismwhining.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="224" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C4Gu5HMsVps/UePTAz3l0uI/AAAAAAAAA2Y/UIWajmtJmuE/s320/autismwhining.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;So first you are complaining that you have an INVISIBLE disease (or your child does) and then you are complaining that your invisibly diseased child (or self) isn't getting special treatment?&amp;nbsp; Honestly it's one or the other.&amp;nbsp; If I see a kid screaming and losing it in public, I don't worry that the kid has an invisible disease, I assume the kid is a brat.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;In my dad's early stages of Alzheimer's, he appeared perfectly normal &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;and most of the time he acted that way.&amp;nbsp; We didn't say anything to anyone about his disease unless he started at act weird.&amp;nbsp; We didn't want people pitying him for no reason.&amp;nbsp; But once something kicked in and his behavior went a little sideways, we'd simply explain, "he has Alzheimer's" and most of the time people were understanding.&amp;nbsp; Is it embarrassing for your grown up father to throw a temper tantrum in a restaurant? Of course it is, and of course people stare, and what do we do?&amp;nbsp; Not get pissed off and passive aggressive toward those people--we removed my father from the situation.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;We never expected anyone in public to simply "deal with" my dad in a full-blown Alzheimer's rage.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; We also did not want anyone trying to "help" except if they were calling the police (although one time we asked someone to call the police and that person flat-out refused).&lt;br /&gt;I guess&lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;&lt;b&gt; I don't understand the combination of "invisible" diseases and the sense of entitlement it seems to entail.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If your disease is invisible, that means no one knows you have it (unless you are trumpeting it in every passive-aggressive status on FB), so why should anyone have to be "understanding" or "kind" to you?&amp;nbsp; Is your disease manifesting in some way that requires you to need special treatment? If so, it's not INVISIBLE.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;What I'm trying to say is, pick one.&lt;span style="color: purple;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Either you have something wrong with you and you need no special treatment, or you &lt;i&gt;do &lt;/i&gt;need special treatment.&amp;nbsp; You can't have it both ways.&amp;nbsp; You can't also expect the general public to be able to diagnose your "invisible" disease at a glance and know if you need assistance and provide whatever it is you think you are entitled to.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I will always offer to hold the door for someone in a wheelchair or who is using a walker or cane (I was raised right, after all) or to help an elderly person put groceries into their trunk but I can't read your mind and know you can't open the door yourself because of your invisible disease and if you're going to get pissed at me because of that, that is your issue not mine.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;This weekend I had a party and my new friend came with her husband who is in a wheelchair.&amp;nbsp; We were able to easily rearrange things so he could be comfortable and yet still be part of the group.&amp;nbsp; I had food without wheat for my gluten intolerant friend, meat without salt for my friend who just had a stroke, grilled chicken for friends on high-protein diets.&amp;nbsp; Because I knew about these things in advance, it was simple to do. But if my friend had arrived with her wheelchair-bound husband with no warning and gotten angry that the party was up several steps on the deck, is that my fault or hers for not telling me her husband is handicapped?&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class="text_exposed_show"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1631. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1632. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1633.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1634.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1635.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">diseases</category>
1636.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">entitlement</category>
1637.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rant</category>
1638.      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:47:00 GMT</pubDate>
1639.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1640.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-1814053219212339736</guid>
1641.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1642.      <dc:date>2013-07-15T13:47:00Z</dc:date>
1643.    </item>
1644.    <item>
1645.      <title>Jaguar Nights 2014 is available in KINDLE</title>
1646.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533281</link>
1647.      <description>2014 Mayan-Aztec calendar, available in KINDLE format as well as print.</description>
1648.      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:06:00 GMT</pubDate>
1649.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533281</guid>
1650.      <dc:date>2013-06-23T12:06:00Z</dc:date>
1651.    </item>
1652.    <item>
1653.      <title>Airesford book signing June 29 in West Haven, CT</title>
1654.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533280</link>
1655.      <description>Airesford book signing at Curious Goods in West Haven, CT, 2-4 p.m. Saturday June 29.  Bring your own copy or buy a copy from us!</description>
1656.      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:04:00 GMT</pubDate>
1657.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533280</guid>
1658.      <dc:date>2013-06-23T12:04:00Z</dc:date>
1659.    </item>
1660.    <item>
1661.      <title>2 new metaphysical books edited</title>
1662.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533279</link>
1663.      <description>Just finished working on Bigfoot, Human Ancestors and Sunset Sanctuary; added that to my list.  And Don Cerow's book came out with a slightly different name, When the Dragon wore the Crown, and I added that link as well.</description>
1664.      <pubDate>Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:03:00 GMT</pubDate>
1665.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533279</guid>
1666.      <dc:date>2013-06-23T12:03:00Z</dc:date>
1667.    </item>
1668.    <item>
1669.      <title>Jaguar Nights 2014 is out in PRINT</title>
1670.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533278</link>
1671.      <description>Jaguar Nights 2014 Mayan-Aztec calendar is out in PRINT with ALL NEW HAND DRAWN GRAPHICS.  They are just gorgeous, take a look.
1672. Kindle and Nook coming soon.</description>
1673.      <pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2013 16:59:00 GMT</pubDate>
1674.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533278</guid>
1675.      <dc:date>2013-05-17T16:59:00Z</dc:date>
1676.    </item>
1677.    <item>
1678.      <title>Stick N Find Bluetooth Location device</title>
1679.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/05/stick-n-find-bluetooth-location-device.html</link>
1680.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SWi2oVkmeXQ/UYpgimJFtBI/AAAAAAAAA04/ZPuxVrH-AAM/s72-c/shut+up+and+take+my+money.png" height="72" width="72" />
1681.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">5</thr:total>
1682.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SWi2oVkmeXQ/UYpgimJFtBI/AAAAAAAAA04/ZPuxVrH-AAM/s1600/shut+up+and+take+my+money.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="203" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SWi2oVkmeXQ/UYpgimJFtBI/AAAAAAAAA04/ZPuxVrH-AAM/s320/shut+up+and+take+my+money.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just found &lt;a href="http://www.sticknfind.com/" target="_blank"&gt;this product&lt;/a&gt; through a post on, of all places, the I Can Has Cheezburger (LOL cats) site.&lt;br /&gt;If my dad was still alive and at home, I'd be Fry from Futurama: &lt;i&gt;shut up and take my money&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHKB3wZFKno/UYpgHmkoA_I/AAAAAAAAA0w/E-EL5loJp3E/s1600/stickNFind.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="123" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yHKB3wZFKno/UYpgHmkoA_I/AAAAAAAAA0w/E-EL5loJp3E/s320/stickNFind.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Basically, &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;the StickNFind is a tiny round sticker that you can place anywhere.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; You use your i-phone or Android phone to track the location of the sticker.&amp;nbsp; If you lose your keys, for instance.&amp;nbsp; Or you can put it on your pet's collar, stuck to a tag.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Or your wandering dementia-ridden dad.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;When you are within 100 feet your phone can find it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; If your phone can't find it, you can set up an alert that goes off when the tag comes within range, say, if you are driving around looking for said pet, or dad.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;The battery lasts for a YEAR and it's just a simple watch battery.&amp;nbsp; They are&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; 2&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt; for $50&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; and come in many colors.&amp;nbsp; And it's a one-time fee (except for the batteries), no monthly upkeep charges.&lt;br /&gt;I've talked about GPS shoes and watches and things before, but this is very versatile.&amp;nbsp; It just doesn't have a great range.&amp;nbsp; For what it is, the price isn't outrageous.&amp;nbsp; The biggest hurdle may be the smart phone.&amp;nbsp; I only got an Android phone a few weeks ago, and there is no app for any other operating system except Android and i-phone.&lt;br /&gt;You can use the app to make the sticker flash or buzz (if your keys are lost in the dark).&lt;br /&gt;You can create a "virtual leash" which tells you if the sticker gets too far away from your phone.&amp;nbsp; This is for pets.&amp;nbsp; Of course if you aren't at home and your pet gets out of your house, that isn't very useful.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;The same company puts out &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #274e13;"&gt;a slightly bigger device called a BluTracker that has a range of half a mile&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;and a battery life of 2 months (rechargeable).&amp;nbsp; The pictures it looks to be about the size of a package of dental floss.&amp;nbsp; It has the same features as the sticker, plus a little more. It can be pre-ordered for $70.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;Note:&amp;nbsp; This is NOT a paid advertisement, just a product I found that I think would be useful to the Alzheimer's community.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1683. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1684. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1685.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1686.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1687.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">GPS</category>
1688.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">lost</category>
1689.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">wandering</category>
1690.      <pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 14:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
1691.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1692.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-1918465319952976270</guid>
1693.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1694.      <dc:date>2013-05-08T14:39:00Z</dc:date>
1695.    </item>
1696.    <item>
1697.      <title>bad burn for my mom  :(</title>
1698.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/04/bad-burn-for-my-mom.html</link>
1699.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
1700.      <content:encoded>I took my mom out yesterday for her birthday and she mentioned that her internet connection was down.&amp;nbsp; Which of course was &lt;i&gt;my&lt;/i&gt; fault because I was tinkering with her Wifi on Sunday (which isn't the connection she uses for her computer--she uses a wire right from the modem).&amp;nbsp; So I felt bad, which was her intent, and today I stopped by in the midst of errand running to see if I could figure out what was wrong.&amp;nbsp; Turns out &lt;i&gt;I&lt;/i&gt; did nothing wrong and it was the modem and I had to call AT&amp;amp;T to get talked through fixing it.&lt;br /&gt;While I'm on speaker phone, my mom casually says, "Hey look at this," and shows me her arm.&amp;nbsp; She was wearing a white long-sleeved top.&amp;nbsp; Under the sleeve was a bandage--on her whole arm--and it was oozing fluid through the bandage and through the sleeve.&amp;nbsp; I was dumbfounded.&amp;nbsp; She said, laughing, that &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;she put a hot cup of coffee on the couch arm and the cat knocked the whole thing over her arm and she didn't want to bother me.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; So she went to see her friend who's a CNA in the morning (happened at 8 last night) and her friend wrapped it up and they put over-the-counter salve on it.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Her CNA buddy should have known better.&lt;br /&gt;As soon as the modem was fixed, I made her go to the emergency clinic.&amp;nbsp; She unwrapped her arm and showed them.&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; It looked like raw meat from just under her shoulder to her wrist, all around the whole arm.&amp;nbsp; She said it didn't blister, the skin just "fell right off."&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Apparently the only bad burn is a blistered one?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Clear fluid was just weeping from it steadily, literally dripping from her elbow and fingers like she was standing in the rain--they had to give her one of those diaper-like pads to put under it to catch the fluid.&amp;nbsp; Honestly it was completely disgusting and there is no way if that was my arm I wouldn't have been at the ER or clinic as soon as it happened.&lt;br /&gt;I told her the doctors were going to give her antibiotics, maybe a shot, most likely a pill, and prescription burn cream.&amp;nbsp; The over-the-counter burn cream is for when you have a little 1st degree burn that's a couple of square inches.&amp;nbsp; Honestly &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;her burn is square FEET and third degree. &amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wish my grandma was still alive because she would have called me, like she did when the dog attacked my mom and she drove herself to the ER last summer.&amp;nbsp; Instead I found out by accident.&amp;nbsp; If I hadn't gone over spontaneously to fix the computer, I never would have known and she wouldn't have sought treatment.&lt;br /&gt;And my mom is &lt;b&gt;sane&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;She hasn't a &lt;i&gt;hint&lt;/i&gt; of dementia&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; I don't know what her excuse is.&amp;nbsp; Being strong and not wanting to bug someone is stupid when it comes to &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;a serious life-threatening injury like a 3d degree burn over an entire limb!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The women in the office at the clinic were dumbfounded as well to hear that my mom thought this burn was no big deal, mouthing to me behind her back that it was a good thing I'd dragged her in.&lt;br /&gt;Two doctors consulted over it.&amp;nbsp; The only good thing they had to say was &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;"at least it's not charred."&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; I had to learn how to clean and bandage this oozing raw mess, twice a day until Saturday, when she has to go back and find out if she's got to go to the burn unit.&amp;nbsp; Yes, &lt;i&gt;burn unit&lt;/i&gt;.&amp;nbsp; And she wasn't even going to go to the doctor's office until I forced her!&lt;br /&gt;We had to get prescription cream, and not a tube of it, but a TUB, and prescription pills.&amp;nbsp; Then we had to buy all kinds of bandages, gauze, tapes, and everything needed to bandage the arm 4 more times.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She kept insisting she felt fine and she wanted to take me out to dinner.&amp;nbsp; I had a run one more errand and then we stopped to eat.&amp;nbsp; She started to shake, going into shock, and we ended up getting the food to go and going home so she could take more pain killers and go to sleep.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;I'm really worried.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This is one of those times I wish I had a brother or sister to help.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; I guess i should be glad my dad isn't around to see this because he'd be completely freaking out.&amp;nbsp; And he'd grab her arm, I can't imagine how bad that would be.&amp;nbsp; I am shuddering to think that I have to touch it, clean it, salve it, gauze it, bandage it, then sleeve it 4 times in the next two days.&amp;nbsp; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1701. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1702. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1703.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1704.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1705.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">burns</category>
1706.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">life-threatening</category>
1707.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mom</category>
1708.      <pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:09:00 GMT</pubDate>
1709.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1710.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8108468348860019413</guid>
1711.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1712.      <dc:date>2013-04-10T22:09:00Z</dc:date>
1713.    </item>
1714.    <item>
1715.      <title>updated Airesford page</title>
1716.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533277</link>
1717.      <description>The novel AIRESFORD is very close to publication.  Its page has been updated with a feed from the Facebook page &amp; a link to follow the Pinterest board as well as the viewing widget.</description>
1718.      <pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:32:00 GMT</pubDate>
1719.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533277</guid>
1720.      <dc:date>2013-03-04T19:32:00Z</dc:date>
1721.    </item>
1722.    <item>
1723.      <title>DEEP, a Cthulhu Mythos/Deep Ones romance</title>
1724.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533276</link>
1725.      <description>I also started a Pinterest board for DEEP, the novel I'm starting (again) as I finish up with Airesford.</description>
1726.      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:03:00 GMT</pubDate>
1727.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533276</guid>
1728.      <dc:date>2013-02-25T15:03:00Z</dc:date>
1729.    </item>
1730.    <item>
1731.      <title>Airesford Pinterest Board updated link</title>
1732.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533275</link>
1733.      <description>Apparently renaming the board also changes the link to the massive Pinterest board for Airesford.  Here is the most recent link; I'm not going to change it again, I promise.</description>
1734.      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:01:00 GMT</pubDate>
1735.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533275</guid>
1736.      <dc:date>2013-02-25T15:01:00Z</dc:date>
1737.    </item>
1738.    <item>
1739.      <title>Airesford Facebook fan page</title>
1740.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533274</link>
1741.      <description>Facebook fan page for my new novel Aireford, which is a humorous fantasy romance with zombies.</description>
1742.      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
1743.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533274</guid>
1744.      <dc:date>2013-02-25T15:00:00Z</dc:date>
1745.    </item>
1746.    <item>
1747.      <title>new novel AIRESFORD</title>
1748.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533273</link>
1749.      <description>I've added a page under the Writing section for my new novel AIRESFORD, written with my friend Carole Urban.  Should be available by May 2013 in print, Kindle, and Nook.  Page contains a slideshow of the 250+ Pinterest images related to the book's content.</description>
1750.      <pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:59:00 GMT</pubDate>
1751.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533273</guid>
1752.      <dc:date>2013-02-25T14:59:00Z</dc:date>
1753.    </item>
1754.    <item>
1755.      <title>my cat and my dad</title>
1756.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/02/my-cat-and-my-dad.html</link>
1757.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-Tz7kqxFi8/USZXkVh9MRI/AAAAAAAAArY/_R893l8TvMw/s72-c/Romeo_shame.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1758.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">3</thr:total>
1759.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-Tz7kqxFi8/USZXkVh9MRI/AAAAAAAAArY/_R893l8TvMw/s1600/Romeo_shame.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r-Tz7kqxFi8/USZXkVh9MRI/AAAAAAAAArY/_R893l8TvMw/s320/Romeo_shame.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZTculW4a-U/USZXnfmTgtI/AAAAAAAAArg/HmhbEGgFki8/s1600/Romeo_31Mar2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZTculW4a-U/USZXnfmTgtI/AAAAAAAAArg/HmhbEGgFki8/s320/Romeo_31Mar2012.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;My rescue cat, Romeo, was doing something today.&amp;nbsp; I don't even remember what it was--begging for food probably because he's on a diet.&amp;nbsp; But for some reason &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;I thought about my dad and tried to remember what my dad had to say about Romeo.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then I realized, &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;he never met this cat&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;And that made me feel really, really sad.&lt;br /&gt;I got Romeo almost 2 years ago shortly after his 9th birthday.&amp;nbsp; He had had, as well as I can tell, 5 homes in the last year (before that, 1 home).&amp;nbsp; He was afraid of everything, with severe PTSD to the point where he had to be sedated for six months or have a fear-induced heart attack.&amp;nbsp; He's got some poor litterbox habits (hence the "shaming" picture).&amp;nbsp; But now that he's figured out we are keeping him even if he has litterbox issues, he is really sweet and loving and adorable and I am totally his "person" and he follows me around and constantly rubs his head on me so the other cats know I am his.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;I think my dad would have liked him.&lt;br /&gt;But realizing that, although Romeo is 11 years old and dad's been gone only 5 years, they never met, made me&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; think of everything else my dad will never see and never know. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That made me alternately sad and angry.&amp;nbsp; I don't MISS my dad much anymore, but when I do, it always knocks me for a loop.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;And I have to wonder if I'm angry &lt;i&gt;because&lt;/i&gt; he died or if I'm angry at &lt;i&gt;how&lt;/i&gt; he died.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Would I have felt such anger, started this blog, if my dad had cancer, or died of a heart attack (what probably would have happened without the Alzheimer's, since he had at least 1 heart attack that we know of while he had dementia.&amp;nbsp; I don't think so.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1760. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1761. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1762.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1763.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1764.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cats</category>
1765.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
1766.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sadness</category>
1767.      <pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2013 17:30:00 GMT</pubDate>
1768.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1769.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-413361119662524210</guid>
1770.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1771.      <dc:date>2013-02-21T17:30:00Z</dc:date>
1772.    </item>
1773.    <item>
1774.      <title>Alzheimer's Aunt falls down</title>
1775.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/02/alzheimers-aunt-falls-down.html</link>
1776.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AuZkcJdatwA/UR1uEZpPLcI/AAAAAAAAArI/qdapfJePd6E/s72-c/feb2013snow.png" height="72" width="72" />
1777.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
1778.      <content:encoded>&lt;table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AuZkcJdatwA/UR1uEZpPLcI/AAAAAAAAArI/qdapfJePd6E/s1600/feb2013snow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AuZkcJdatwA/UR1uEZpPLcI/AAAAAAAAArI/qdapfJePd6E/s320/feb2013snow.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"&gt;The view from my font window; beyond the fence &lt;br /&gt;is a sidewalk and on the other side of the tree is the street.&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that we in New England just got &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;walloped with a huge snowstorm&lt;/span&gt;.&amp;nbsp; My town got &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;38 inches of snow&lt;/span&gt; in one day and at one point supposedly snow was falling at 6 inches per hour.&amp;nbsp; Lotta snow.&lt;br /&gt;If you want to watch it in action, there is an &lt;a href="http://bit.ly/WYjpx6" target="_blank"&gt;awesome video&lt;/a&gt; (less than a minute) in time-lapse.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;So you can imagine what it was like to shovel out of this insane mess, even with a snowblower.&lt;br /&gt;After 3 days, I finally got my car out.&amp;nbsp; I called my cousin and said "I'm venturing out, does your mom need anything?"&amp;nbsp; The reply was "well she's not shoveled out so she wouldn't be able to get anything you brought."&amp;nbsp; Okay.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I called my own mom who said she was going to walk to Wal-mart to buy dog food.&amp;nbsp; I told her no, that I would buy it and bring it.&amp;nbsp; But her street wasn't plowed yet (cul-de-sac) and neither was the street leading to it.&amp;nbsp; I convinced her that the dog could survive on just dry food for a few days and set off on my own adventures.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Of course who do I see wandering down the street on foot, clutching a bag of dog food?&amp;nbsp; MY MOM!&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; I get her into my SUV and get her as close to home as I could (not very, unfortunately) and promised to take her to the store for real the next day if the street's still unplowed. &lt;br /&gt;The next day I am waiting for her to call me about going to the store together and &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;my cousin calls wanting Alzheimer's Aunt dug out and driven around.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; Of course everyone has a million reasons why they can't do it and I have to.&amp;nbsp; I was pretty angry; I said "I've got my own mom to deal with, her street isn't plowed and neither is the street that's attached to."&amp;nbsp; So then I had BOTH of them in the car.&amp;nbsp; And later my mom complained how bad Alzheimer's Aunt STUNK.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;She REEKED.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It's her breath, like death, like a dead animal under the porch in the summer, combined with an unwashed body and dirty clothing.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My mom was actually coming over my house after shopping to help me dig out my husband's car, so he could finally go to work rather than keep working from home.&amp;nbsp; So that's my mom, who does stuff.&amp;nbsp; In contrast, this is Alzheimer's Aunt once she's in the car:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;"I tried to go outside and I fell down."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just clamped my mouth shut.&amp;nbsp; When there's almost 4 feet of snow, it doesn't make you fall down.&amp;nbsp; It holds you up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;"I couldn't get up, I laid in the snow for 15 minutes."&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just don't believe her. I don't believe she even went outside. &lt;br /&gt;"No one came and shoveled my sidewalk."&lt;br /&gt;Finally I spoke.&amp;nbsp; "Who did you think would come when every road in the state was closed?"&lt;br /&gt;"I thought my neighbors would do it."&lt;br /&gt;"Did you ask them for help?"&lt;br /&gt;"No."&lt;br /&gt;"Then why did you think they would shovel for you?"&lt;br /&gt;"They would see that I didn't shovel."&lt;br /&gt;Well, for all they knew, you weren't even HOME.&amp;nbsp; And I bet if she had gone outside and made the slightest effort and others were outside shoveling, someone might have come over and asked if she needed help.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Sitting in the house, no doubt with the stuck-out lip face, pouting, isn't how you get your walk shoveled.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I announce, rather loudly and passive-aggressively, that I need gas for my car.&lt;br /&gt;The silence is deafening.&lt;br /&gt;So I have to shovel you out and drive you around but you can't pitch in for gas money?!&lt;br /&gt;The next day, I was talking to my cousin about her.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;I learned that Alzheimer's Aunt has spent approximately $6,000 in the last few months that can't be accounted for.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Part of it may be her house taxes, but even if she paid the whole year, that wouldn't be that much money.&amp;nbsp; I said, "Do you have power of attorney?&amp;nbsp; It's simple.&amp;nbsp; Invoke it.&amp;nbsp; Take her checkbook, take all her credit cards.&amp;nbsp; Call QVC and cancel her account.&amp;nbsp; Have new credit cards issued so any cards she has saved online (like at Amazon) won't work.&amp;nbsp; Go to the bank and say that she cannot take money out of her accounts anymore or get any loans.&amp;nbsp; Give her $200 cash for groceries and nothing else."&amp;nbsp; Then my cousin said that Alzheimer's Aunt has been going to her bank and &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;opening $5,000 lines of credit like they are free money.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; She has a mortgage on the house (she's lived in it for over 40 years) too, we don't know for how much or what she spent that money on.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;But no one wants to invoke the PoA and "deal with all that" so they will let her spend herself into the ground.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I suggested (I know I'm not supposed to suggest) that it's time she move into senior housing. "No, it would cost more."&amp;nbsp; I did the math and I think it would be significantly less.&amp;nbsp; The mortgage payment is about what rent would be.&amp;nbsp; She would no longer have to pay house taxes, water/sewer, oil, gas, or electric.&amp;nbsp; How would it cost more? Oh, but she can't live in a simple 1 bedroom senior apartment because she's got a 3 bedroom house hoarded to the brim with stuff she won't give up.&lt;br /&gt;Is she going to the doctor anytime soon?&amp;nbsp; Getting tests?&amp;nbsp; Anyone care what's really wrong with her expect me, the person she cares about the least?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Nope.&lt;br /&gt;It's all very sad.&lt;br /&gt;Also, in an aside, &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;1 year ago today my grandma had her (final) stroke and we pulled the plug.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; I will write about her later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1779. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1780. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1781.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers aunt</category>
1782.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1783.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1784.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">snow</category>
1785.      <pubDate>Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:38:00 GMT</pubDate>
1786.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1787.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-2474186322099629870</guid>
1788.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1789.      <dc:date>2013-02-14T23:38:00Z</dc:date>
1790.    </item>
1791.    <item>
1792.      <title>alternate universes, or the "maybe" game</title>
1793.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/02/alternate-universes-or-maybe-game.html</link>
1794.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EVtW7d94kpg/URABU-9H3jI/AAAAAAAAAq4/VNttpX3AimU/s72-c/parallel-multi-verse.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
1795.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
1796.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EVtW7d94kpg/URABU-9H3jI/AAAAAAAAAq4/VNttpX3AimU/s1600/parallel-multi-verse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EVtW7d94kpg/URABU-9H3jI/AAAAAAAAAq4/VNttpX3AimU/s320/parallel-multi-verse.jpg" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;For some reason I started thinking about alternate universes today.&amp;nbsp; Forgive my lack of scientific words, but there is a theory (not science fiction or fantasy, but a real actual scientific idea) called a Multiverse, that posits that &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;everything that ever could have happened, did happen, just in some other world that lies parallel to ours.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;That makes me wonder if that place (those places) are the afterlife we dream of and hope for.&amp;nbsp; In some of those worlds:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;My dad is still alive and clear-minded and we visit Aunt Bert every Friday because she is also alive and clear-minded at 94 years old.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My grandpa didn't die of cancer 25 years ago.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;My grandma didn't have a stroke a year ago.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I am thin.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I am a paleontologist with a dinosaur named after me and I have held the claw of a raptor and the tooth of a t-rex. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I have run my fingers through a tiger's fur.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I have written best-selling novels and I hobnob with famous writers.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I am working with elephants so I can clone a mammoth.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;That is something that can sustain me.&amp;nbsp; Every once in a while, I get a hint of cross-over, I feel like just &lt;i&gt;there&lt;/i&gt;, &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;so close I can touch her, Another Bert has done something amazing, and I get an echo. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Maybe on days that I feel sad for no reason, something bad has happened to one of my Others.&amp;nbsp; My pet lived, but hers died.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;She has lost something that I got to keep.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; And I have lost so much, and perhaps they kept it.&amp;nbsp; (They can all keep the weight I've lost, that's for sure.)&lt;br /&gt;I am reading Terry Pratchett's newest book, &lt;i&gt;Dodger&lt;/i&gt;.&amp;nbsp; To think this came out of the mind of someone who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 5 years ago is amazing.&amp;nbsp; I know he has some help writing now, but his voice is still strongly there.&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;And maybe, for this world, the trade-off was my dad died and Sir Terry got to live.&amp;nbsp; Maybe in another world, my dad lived and they lost Terry Pratchett.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We should&lt;i&gt; know&lt;/i&gt; all this, shouldn't we? We are living in the future, aren't we?&amp;nbsp; The original Cyberpunk game was set in 2013 (then moved to 2020 and now it's being reborn in 2077).&amp;nbsp; 1984, 2001, they were all supposed to be amazing futures.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Cell phones are amazing, the internet is incredible, but where are the flying cars? Why don't we live on the moon?&amp;nbsp; Why don't I have a port in my head to connect my computer?&amp;nbsp; Why don't we have awesome cyborgs and laser weapons?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Why can't we see into those other universes?&amp;nbsp; Just to KNOW, not to communicate.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt; Even if he's dead now of a heart attack, to know that somewhere my father didn't suffer and die as a virtual vegetable.&amp;nbsp; That my garden is beautiful because my grandpa lived long enough to help me with it.&amp;nbsp; That maybe &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;everyone I know who is boring and ordinary, like me, is extraordinary somewhere else, even if it's only on one world out of a million. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe there are other worlds where dementia and cancer don't exist or have been cured.&amp;nbsp; (I imagine they are even more grossly overpopulated than this world, though.)&amp;nbsp; Where there are no Alzheimer's blogs or awards for them because they aren't needed.&lt;br /&gt;And maybe in all of them, my dad is dead.&amp;nbsp; I don't know if I'll ever know.&amp;nbsp; But&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; I like to think that it's possible he's still there, somewhere, even if it's just at the Elsewhere Bar.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.gfilotto.com/multiverse-reality" target="_blank"&gt;image sour&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gfilotto.com/multiverse-reality" target="_blank"&gt;ce&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1797. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1798. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1799.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1800.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1801.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">death</category>
1802.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1803.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">elsewhere bar</category>
1804.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">grandma</category>
1805.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">memory</category>
1806.      <pubDate>Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
1807.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1808.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-7369900596321766556</guid>
1809.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1810.      <dc:date>2013-02-04T18:39:00Z</dc:date>
1811.    </item>
1812.    <item>
1813.      <title>click to give $10,000 to Alzheimer's</title>
1814.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/01/click-to-give-10000-to-alzheimers.html</link>
1815.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
1816.      <content:encoded>I just got this message on Facebook, from &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/max.wallack.1" target="_blank"&gt;Max Wallack&lt;/a&gt;:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="_38 direction_ltr"&gt;&lt;i&gt;I am a 16 year old sophomore at  Boston University  who is dedicating his life to help Alzheimer’s  patients and their caregivers.  In 2008, I founded PuzzlesToRemember,  which, by now, has &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;distributed over 19,300 puzzles to Alzheimer’s  facilities around the world&lt;/span&gt;.  I also volunteer 20 hours a week in an  Alzheimer’s research lab.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;I recently learned that I am the  recipient of a $1000 grant from KidsWhoGive, which is a philanthropic  program run by Farm Rich Products. &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt; I will be donating these funds to  the Molecular Psychiatry and Aging Lab at BUSM. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Donating consumer  goods like puzzles is helpful, but the knowledge created from research  can have a much wider and longer lasting impact on society. &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;There are  5.8 Alzheimer's patients in this country alone, with a new patient being  diagnosed every 58 seconds.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I recently learned that KidsWhoGive  having a “run off” competition between the nine students they have  chosen throughout 2012.  These students are being voted on by the  general public.  The winner will receive $10,000 for their “cause” &lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;I  would really like the opportunity to provide $10,000 for research at  Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center.  &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please vote here every day until Feb 5 and help me bring this money to research. Just click on the word “vote”&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://kidswhogive.com/vote-on-entries/entry/?submissionId=164" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"&gt;http://kidswhogive.com/vote-on-entries/entry/?submissionId=164&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;This  is a wonderful opportunity for people to donate for Alzheimer’s  research without it costing them anything.&lt;/span&gt;  Please share this  information with your colleagues, post on your facebook page,  your blog  and publicize anywhere else in order to get as many votes as possible.   It could make all the difference!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1817. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1818. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1819.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimer's</category>
1820.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1821.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">award</category>
1822.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1823.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">donate</category>
1824.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">research</category>
1825.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">vote</category>
1826.      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:13:00 GMT</pubDate>
1827.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1828.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-4025794766445278909</guid>
1829.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1830.      <dc:date>2013-01-31T20:13:00Z</dc:date>
1831.    </item>
1832.    <item>
1833.      <title>2 new writing award logos added</title>
1834.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533272</link>
1835.      <description>I put up the logos for my two award nominations on my awards page and added a link to the Pinterest board on the main writing page.</description>
1836.      <pubDate>Tue, 29 Jan 2013 13:28:00 GMT</pubDate>
1837.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533272</guid>
1838.      <dc:date>2013-01-29T13:28:00Z</dc:date>
1839.    </item>
1840.    <item>
1841.      <title>Alzheimer's blog nomination #2 (single vote)</title>
1842.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533271</link>
1843.      <description>This is the second nomination for my Alzheimer's blog.  You can vote ONE TIME with Google+ and ONE TIME with Facebook.  Thanks!</description>
1844.      <pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:20:00 GMT</pubDate>
1845.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533271</guid>
1846.      <dc:date>2013-01-27T20:20:00Z</dc:date>
1847.    </item>
1848.    <item>
1849.      <title>Alzheimer's blog nomination #1 (daily vote)</title>
1850.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533270</link>
1851.      <description>My Alzheimer's blog has been nominated for TWO more awards.  This one allows daily votes with both Facebook and Twitter (Easiest to do if you use two different browsers).  I could win $1000 (and then donate it Alzheimer's research)!  Please vote daily.  Thanks!</description>
1852.      <pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:18:00 GMT</pubDate>
1853.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533270</guid>
1854.      <dc:date>2013-01-27T20:18:00Z</dc:date>
1855.    </item>
1856.    <item>
1857.      <title>first new site is up: MayanAztecCalendar.com</title>
1858.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533269</link>
1859.      <description>This new site gathers all the generic Mayan-Aztec calendar information from ObsidianButterfly.com into one place.  For now, it still exists on the original site as well.  Contains a Mayan calendar convertor and displays the current Mayan date on every page in the lower corner.  Enjoy.</description>
1860.      <pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:11:00 GMT</pubDate>
1861.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533269</guid>
1862.      <dc:date>2013-01-27T20:11:00Z</dc:date>
1863.    </item>
1864.    <item>
1865.      <title>new book teasers</title>
1866.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533268</link>
1867.      <description>I've been working on a novel with a friend for quite some time and it's almost ready to unleash upon the world.  It's a humorous fantasy romance novel, and to create excitement we've started a Pinterest board with images related to the novel's plot.  Enjoy.</description>
1868.      <pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2013 20:07:00 GMT</pubDate>
1869.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533268</guid>
1870.      <dc:date>2013-01-27T20:07:00Z</dc:date>
1871.    </item>
1872.    <item>
1873.      <title>two more awards, need more votes!</title>
1874.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/01/two-more-awards-need-more-votes.html</link>
1875.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
1876.      <content:encoded>&lt;table style="width: 100%px;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="center" valign="top" width="100%"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health/best-health-blogs-contest-id?id=256"&gt;&lt;img alt="best health blogs 2012" border="0" src="http://www.nygeeks.info/bc/images/big_winner_3.jpg" width="344" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health/best-health-blogs-contest-id?id=256" target="_blank"&gt;Healthline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;I'm up for 2 more awards for this blog. For &lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health/best-health-blogs-contest-id?id=256" target="_blank"&gt;Healthline's Best Blog of 2012&lt;/a&gt; contest, you can vote EVERY DAY on both TWITTER and FACEBOOK.&amp;nbsp; Ends February 15, 2013&lt;br /&gt;For the &lt;a href="http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/had-a-dad-alzheimers-blog/2013-best-senior-living-awards/?_opt_r=TWITTER" target="_blank"&gt;Senior Homes Best Senior Living blog&lt;/a&gt; (which I was also nominated for last year) you can vote ONE TIME through FACEBOOK and once through GOOGLE+.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; I'm not sure when the voting ends so do it soon!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/had-a-dad-alzheimers-blog/2013-best-senior-living-awards/" title="&amp;quot;Had a Dad&amp;quot; Alzheimer's Blog is a nominee in the SeniorHomes.com Best Senior Living Awards 2013."&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.seniorhomes.com/images/best-senior-living-awards-2013/nominee-large.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1877. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1878. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1879.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1880.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1881.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">award</category>
1882.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">awards</category>
1883.      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:44:00 GMT</pubDate>
1884.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1885.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-8339224452944137067</guid>
1886.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1887.      <dc:date>2013-01-23T14:44:00Z</dc:date>
1888.    </item>
1889.    <item>
1890.      <title>Xmas and Alzheimer's Aunt, and more awards</title>
1891.      <link>http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com/2013/01/xmas-and-aa-and-more-awards.html</link>
1892.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
1893.      <content:encoded>It is interesting to me to examine the difference in my feelings toward my dad's illness (absolutely Alzheimer's--hey someone should photoshop an Absolut ad for Alzheimer's) and toward my aunt's illness which may or may not be some kind of dementia, Alzheimer's or just generic insanity.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Of course, she is not my dad (or my mom) so I'm more distant from the problem, and I was never close to her even before all this.&lt;br /&gt;But I think the biggest thing is &lt;b&gt;her children's inability to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I saw Alzheimer's Aunt (AA) at my cousin's house on Christmas Eve.&amp;nbsp; There was a mix-up over food; I was incorrectly told there would only be snacks while we opened gifts, so I ate lunch first, and then got there to discover a huge meal laid out, so the fact that I didn't really eat anything caused some tension.&lt;br /&gt;I got stuck next to AA on the couch during gift time.&amp;nbsp; We were all drinking eggnog and being festive.&amp;nbsp; AA started gagging and &lt;b&gt;puked her eggnog back into her glass&lt;/b&gt; and then set it on the table beside my glass.&amp;nbsp; Yes, a glass of puked-up eggnog is just the thing on a cold holiday evening.&amp;nbsp; I had been enjoying my eggnog until that point. After that, I just wanted to go home.&amp;nbsp; She insisted on playing a holiday trivia game from the 1970s and was angry when none of us could answer any of the questions or frankly, cared.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;She spent about 15 minutes telling a long rambling story about something that happened 40 years ago that had no relevance to what was going on currently.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt; She seems to have no connection to the here-and-now anymore, and when she tries (see below), she fails.&amp;nbsp; I know slipping in time is an Alzheimer's thing, although my dad never did it.&lt;br /&gt;Then Alzheimer's Aunt tried to talk to my cousin's boyfriend about a TV show she saw that she thought had something to do with the place where he works.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;"What station was it on?" (he is trying to be polite)&lt;br /&gt;"I don't know."&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;"What was the name of the show?"&lt;br /&gt;"I don't know."&lt;br /&gt;"What day was it on?"&lt;br /&gt;"I don't know."&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;"What else was it about?"&lt;br /&gt;"I don't know.&amp;nbsp; But have you seen it?"&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;"Uh, I don't know?"&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;I felt so bad for him.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Basically that's her conversation:&amp;nbsp; old stories that we've heard before, from the 60's mostly, and that we don't care about, or her trying to explain something she saw on TV that she didn't understand and can't remember.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We tried to play a word game that involved cards with big letters on them (you made words from the cards in your hand) and even though the letters were several inches high in the middle of the cards, &lt;b&gt;she complained constantly&lt;/b&gt; that she couldn't read them.&amp;nbsp; I ended up quitting the game halfway through out of sheer annoyance.&lt;br /&gt;When it was time to leave, of course, just like last year, AA wasn't capable of carrying her own bag of gifts to the car and everyone had to &lt;b&gt;rush around babying her&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; My cousin, whose house we were at, said "Watch the steps" as AA left.&amp;nbsp; AA walked outside and promptly &lt;b&gt;tripped over the welcome mat&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; My cousin said, "I told you to watch out!" and AA replied, "you said the STEPS, not the RUG."&amp;nbsp; Really?&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;The next day Alzheimer's Aunt came to my mom's house for the family Christmas dinner.&amp;nbsp; I had invited some friends as well, one being my friend who lost her mom to Alzheimer's and who also just lost her elderly aunt, leaving her &lt;b&gt;free of sick old ladies to care for, for the first time in many years&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; My friend majored in psychology and works at a rehab facility that also has group therapy for all kinds of mental illnesses.&amp;nbsp; Point being, she knows it when she sees it.&lt;br /&gt;Partway through the meal, AA started hiccuping.&amp;nbsp; That is the signal that she's going to blow.&amp;nbsp; We managed to talk her into actually going into the bathroom rather than spewing vomit all over the table like she usually does.&amp;nbsp; After a few minutes in the bathroom, she came back in and started eating again.&amp;nbsp; I might note that there was never a sound of running water so &lt;b&gt;she didn't wash her hands or rinse her mouth&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; As usual (like the night before) her hygiene was severely lacking.&amp;nbsp; &lt;b&gt;Her breath smells like death.&amp;nbsp; Her hair isn't clean or brushed.&amp;nbsp; She sleeps in her clothes, wearing them for days, and they stink. But she pours on cheap perfume like that will hide the rest&lt;/b&gt;, and it only makes it worse.&lt;br /&gt;After the meal, I went to use the bathroom, and discovered that&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;Alzheimer's Aunt had vomited all over the floor and the wall and just left it there, no attempt to clean it up.&lt;/b&gt; (Makes me wonder about the state of her bathroom, but then I decide I don't want to know.)&amp;nbsp; I cleaned it up as best I could but I was really pissed off.&amp;nbsp; She could have said something to my mom, or asked for a roll of paper towels or something.&amp;nbsp; Everyone was joking about how long I took in the bathroom and I just said, "Oh, I ate too much" but I really wanted to say "I was cleaning up puke from everywhere!&amp;nbsp; It was DISGUSTING."&amp;nbsp; Privately a bit later I told my mom what had happened and she was pretty angry too.&amp;nbsp; She thanked me for trying to clean it up. (And after we left, she said she scrubbed the whole bathroom with bleach because she didn't know where the puke had been.)&lt;br /&gt;My friend said that&lt;b&gt; whatever else is going on, whether it's dementia or Alzheimer's or something else, that &lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;Alzheimer's Aunt is severely mentally ill.&amp;nbsp; She was appalled at the whole puking thing.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; So I feel a little vindicated, that it's not just me.&lt;br /&gt;AA's stories keep changing.&amp;nbsp; She's blind, but she's reading a book. Then she wants someone to take her to&amp;nbsp; Barnes and Noble because she can't drive, only she IS driving because she talks about going somewhere by herself.&amp;nbsp; My mom drove by her house and said &lt;b&gt;AA had backed the car in, missed the driveway, was half in the yard, in a bush, almost against the house.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; I saw the car parked a similar way. She says when she goes out that she "picks a car and follows it" presumably hoping it's going where she is?&amp;nbsp; That could be why she gets lost all the time. She "can't see" her phone so s&lt;b&gt;he dials random numbers and talks to strangers&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; We switched her plan to unlimited minutes yet she ran out of minutes somehow.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She said she paid the bill.&amp;nbsp; But she didn't.&amp;nbsp; I guess she thought having a prepaid phone meant you just pay once?&amp;nbsp; No clue.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The bottom line with &lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;Alzheimer's Aunt is this: In the last year she has lost an alarming amount of weight.&amp;nbsp; She looks sick, not healthy--her skin is grey and sagging.&amp;nbsp; Her hygiene has deteriorated to the point of not having any.&amp;nbsp; She vomits uncontrollably when she eats.&amp;nbsp; She claims to be blind although eye doctors say her eyes are fine.&amp;nbsp; She makes no sense when she talks.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp; Her doctor gave her a partial dementia test, which she seems to have failed but he made excuses for her wrong answers so she did not get any kind of brain scan to look for damage or disease.&amp;nbsp; Her family will not test her for any kind of mold toxicity because "the doctor did a regular blood test and she's ok" even though a mold test is a specialty test. &lt;b&gt;AA refuses to see any other doctor that might be competent and actually diagnose her and give her a treatment plan.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I alternate between feeling helpless and feeling very angry.&amp;nbsp; Whenever she does anything stupid or gross or inappropriate I have to literally bite my lips to keep from speaking up.&amp;nbsp; My friend, who has finally witnessed Alzheimer's Aunt in action, said that I'm not wrong to feel this way, but she's not my parent and her own children are in willful denial about their mother's poor state of health.&amp;nbsp; Between whatever's going wrong inside her, and the unhealthy hoarder environment of her home, she's going to die.&amp;nbsp; And &lt;b&gt;she used to be a nice lady, a smart lady, someone who was interesting to talk to.&amp;nbsp; It's such a waste.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;I loved my dad and his illness was a waste too.&amp;nbsp; But at least we fought it, we took him for treatments, we enrolled him in clinical trials, we took him to various doctors.&amp;nbsp; We didn't sit back and say "Oh, that Bob, he's always been a little strange" and just let him die.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;table align="right" style="width: 100%px;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="center" valign="top" width="100%"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health/best-health-blogs-contest-id?id=256"&gt;&lt;img alt="best health blogs 2012" border="0" src="http://www.nygeeks.info/bc/images/big_winner_3.jpg" width="344" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Healthline&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;Now onto something good. I'm up for 2 more awards for this blog. For &lt;a href="http://www.healthline.com/health/best-health-blogs-contest-id?id=256" target="_blank"&gt;Healthline's Best Blog of 2012&lt;/a&gt; contest, you can vote EVERY DAY on both TWITTER and FACEBOOK.&amp;nbsp; Ends February 15, 2013&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/had-a-dad-alzheimers-blog/2013-best-senior-living-awards/" title="&amp;quot;Had a Dad&amp;quot; Alzheimer's Blog is a nominee in the SeniorHomes.com Best Senior Living Awards 2013."&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.seniorhomes.com/images/best-senior-living-awards-2013/nominee-large.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;For the &lt;a href="http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/had-a-dad-alzheimers-blog/2013-best-senior-living-awards/?_opt_r=TWITTER" target="_blank"&gt;Senior Homes Best Senior Living blog&lt;/a&gt; (which I was also nominated for last year) you can vote ONE TIME through FACEBOOK and once through GOOGLE+. &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;"Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog  http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com
1894. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({
1895. Thank you for visiting!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1896.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Alzheimers</category>
1897.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers aunt</category>
1898.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">alzheimers blog</category>
1899.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">award</category>
1900.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">awards</category>
1901.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dementia</category>
1902.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mental illness</category>
1903.      <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2013 14:42:00 GMT</pubDate>
1904.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1905.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8024461.post-2281850604691624700</guid>
1906.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1907.      <dc:date>2013-01-23T14:42:00Z</dc:date>
1908.    </item>
1909.    <item>
1910.      <title>Updates are now an RSS feed</title>
1911.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533267</link>
1912.      <description>Updates for Transformations by ObsidianButterfly are now in RSS feed form.  Past updates remain as a list.
1913. Also added is a full RSS list of updates across all 3 sites, 3 blogs, and Facebook.</description>
1914.      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:05:00 GMT</pubDate>
1915.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533267</guid>
1916.      <dc:date>2012-12-12T19:05:00Z</dc:date>
1917.    </item>
1918.    <item>
1919.      <title>Jaguar Nights books have moved to their own site</title>
1920.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533305</link>
1921.      <description>The Jaguar Nights series of Mayan-Aztec calendar books by Gevera Bert Piedmont now have their own web site at www.jaguarnights.info.</description>
1922.      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:39:00 GMT</pubDate>
1923.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533305</guid>
1924.      <dc:date>2012-12-12T18:39:00Z</dc:date>
1925.    </item>
1926.    <item>
1927.      <title>12/12/12 12:12</title>
1928.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/12/121212-1212.html</link>
1929.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7TGPtzQ0A4/UMiUsLhQvgI/AAAAAAAAAqI/9t8nBZwdR94/s72-c/FOL+sphere+with+man+copy.png" height="72" width="72" />
1930.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
1931.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7TGPtzQ0A4/UMiUsLhQvgI/AAAAAAAAAqI/9t8nBZwdR94/s1600/FOL+sphere+with+man+copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I7TGPtzQ0A4/UMiUsLhQvgI/AAAAAAAAAqI/9t8nBZwdR94/s1600/FOL+sphere+with+man+copy.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;It's 12-12-12! (The 12th gate out of 13.)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;Welcome the light and open your spiritual gateway wide! Clear your karma and make way for healthy, happy relationships and ways of being in the world.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;This spiritual activation gate will bring the highest frequencies ever encoded in the Light of the Ascended Consciousness, &amp;nbsp;followed by the final gate in 9 days on 12/21/12 when Baktun 13 begins.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;All the spiritual energies we have been working for since 1/1/1 will be fulfilled and available very soon.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;Make it count today! Be light, be love.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;Shamballa on! &amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"&gt;(image source: &amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/articles/howtolivemultidim.html" target="_blank"&gt;ME!&lt;/a&gt; &amp;nbsp;This is a drawing I did for a class on Merkabas and Sacred Geometry)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
1932. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
1933. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1934.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">12/12/12</category>
1935.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">13th Baktun</category>
1936.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2012</category>
1937.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">energy</category>
1938.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">gate</category>
1939.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">shamballa</category>
1940.      <pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2012 05:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
1941.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1942.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-1755414041108736320</guid>
1943.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1944.      <dc:date>2012-12-12T05:00:00Z</dc:date>
1945.    </item>
1946.    <item>
1947.      <title>Jaguar Nights 2013 is available in PRINT and KINDLE format through Amazon.</title>
1948.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533266</link>
1949.      <description>Jaguar Nights 2013 is available in PRINT and KINDLE format through Amazon.</description>
1950.      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:19:00 GMT</pubDate>
1951.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533266</guid>
1952.      <dc:date>2012-12-10T15:19:00Z</dc:date>
1953.    </item>
1954.    <item>
1955.      <title>added a page with 6 connected Tzolkin boards, for divination, for use with Jaguar Nights: a Journey through the Tzolkin.</title>
1956.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533264</link>
1957.      <description>added a page with 6 connected Tzolkin boards, for divination, for use with Jaguar Nights: a Journey through the Tzolkin.</description>
1958.      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:17:00 GMT</pubDate>
1959.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533264</guid>
1960.      <dc:date>2012-12-10T15:17:00Z</dc:date>
1961.    </item>
1962.    <item>
1963.      <title>Site changes are beginning</title>
1964.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533263</link>
1965.      <description>Today I'm beginning to change this site and I'll be adding the new new sites soon.</description>
1966.      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:02:00 GMT</pubDate>
1967.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533263</guid>
1968.      <dc:date>2012-12-10T15:02:00Z</dc:date>
1969.    </item>
1970.    <item>
1971.      <title>Added a short video to the Sacred Geometry article.</title>
1972.      <link>http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533265</link>
1973.      <description>Added a short video to the Sacred Geometry article.</description>
1974.      <pubDate>Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
1975.      <guid isPermaLink="false">http://feeds.rapidfeeds.com/?iid4ct=7533265</guid>
1976.      <dc:date>2012-11-20T15:00:00Z</dc:date>
1977.    </item>
1978.    <item>
1979.      <title>Jaguar Nights merchandise</title>
1980.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/11/jaguar-nights-merchandise.html</link>
1981.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r0wCfs4cQNI/UKUSDYJmJYI/AAAAAAAAApc/uTcp2xQ2H7o/s72-c/zazzle2.png" height="72" width="72" />
1982.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
1983.      <content:encoded>&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r0wCfs4cQNI/UKUSDYJmJYI/AAAAAAAAApc/uTcp2xQ2H7o/s1600/zazzle2.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r0wCfs4cQNI/UKUSDYJmJYI/AAAAAAAAApc/uTcp2xQ2H7o/s1600/zazzle2.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;My artist Mike has put up two of his designs, both used in &lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/jaguarnights" target="_blank"&gt;Jaguar Nights 2013&lt;/a&gt;, as t-shirt designs on Zazzle.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The shirts are available in a multitude of colors.&amp;nbsp; The designs are &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/rabbit_in_the_moon_t_shirt-235720761633511936" target="_blank"&gt;Rabbit in the Moon&lt;/a&gt; (I LOVE IT) and &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/jaguar_warrior_t_shirt_in_white-235763100787852898" target="_blank"&gt;Jaguar Warrior&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The rabbit design is probably going to be the back of the Mayan Oracle cards.&amp;nbsp; You can search Zazzle for "&lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/michaelgiza+gifts?pg=2" target="_blank"&gt;MichaelGiza&lt;/a&gt;" (no space) to see all of his work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0pgZYi5jJFQ/UKUTo7wlvYI/AAAAAAAAApk/0_Hd7v0RVQk/s1600/MikesSunGod.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0pgZYi5jJFQ/UKUTo7wlvYI/AAAAAAAAApk/0_Hd7v0RVQk/s1600/MikesSunGod.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;In Meso themed work, he also offers &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/sun_god_card-137699403904178574" target="_blank"&gt;Sun God cards&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/sun_god_t_shirt-235781554436726518" target="_blank"&gt;Sun God t-shirts&lt;/a&gt;, and the Jaguar Warrior on &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/jaguar_warrior_card_white_on_red-137071229245354889" target="_blank"&gt;red greeting cards&lt;/a&gt;, turquoise and brown &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/jaguar_warrior_card_blue_on_brown-137124008443254549" target="_blank"&gt;greeting cards&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/jaguar_warrior_playing_cards_blue-256281441906184701" target="_blank"&gt;playing cards&lt;/a&gt;, and a &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/jaguar_warrior_notebook_red-130641900597789123" target="_blank"&gt;red notebook&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The Rabbit is also available on a &lt;a href="http://www.zazzle.com/rabbit_in_the_moon_mug_blue-168197982826358396" target="_blank"&gt;mug. &lt;/a&gt;(soon to be mine) The Sun God picture gives you an idea of the style of artwork and color that will be on the Mayan Oracle cards.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
1984. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
1985. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
1986.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Aztec</category>
1987.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Jaguar Nights</category>
1988.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan</category>
1989.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">merchandise</category>
1990.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mesoamerican</category>
1991.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">michael giza</category>
1992.      <pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 2012 16:17:00 GMT</pubDate>
1993.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
1994.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-1938146982242582420</guid>
1995.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
1996.      <dc:date>2012-11-15T16:17:00Z</dc:date>
1997.    </item>
1998.    <item>
1999.      <title>Jaguar Nights 2013 in Kindle &amp; print, with screen shots</title>
2000.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/11/jaguar-nights-2013-in-kindle-print-with.html</link>
2001.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGRb3nIJ098/UKULsbSGoOI/AAAAAAAAAoY/qFuxxTU40i0/s72-c/samplelayout+for+blog.png" height="72" width="72" />
2002.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">2</thr:total>
2003.      <content:encoded>&lt;table align="right" tr="tr"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a _blank="" href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-2013-Mayan-Aztec-Calendar/dp/1480130796/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1352991088&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=1480130796"&gt;&lt;img height="140" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/jaguarnights/Jaguar-Nights-2013-sm.png" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-2013-Mayan-Aztec-Calendar/dp/1480130796/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1352991088&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=1480130796" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Jaguar Nights 2013 Mayan-Aztec Calendar&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt; is now available in both print and kindle formats.&amp;nbsp; The Kindle format has color pictures for those using a Kindle Fire or a Kindle app on a smartphone or tablet.&amp;nbsp; Click the cover or the above link to purchase either version.&amp;nbsp; Because of the large expense of mailing from Amazon to me and from me to you, I'm only selling books in person, not via mail anymore.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;The print version is in a totally new format, expanded from 64 pages to 110, with more room on each day for writing.&amp;nbsp; It is one week per 2-page spread; Saturday and Sunday are a bit larger, and there is an informational panel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGRb3nIJ098/UKULsbSGoOI/AAAAAAAAAoY/qFuxxTU40i0/s1600/samplelayout+for+blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="237" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KGRb3nIJ098/UKULsbSGoOI/AAAAAAAAAoY/qFuxxTU40i0/s320/samplelayout+for+blog.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&amp;nbsp;Compared to 2008,2009, 2011, and 2012, which had 2 weeks per 2 page spread with all information at the back of the book.&amp;nbsp; People complained that there was not enough room to write appointments and notes with this format.&amp;nbsp; So I listened,and changed it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ms6oPqRszs/UKUNjUpu_1I/AAAAAAAAAog/MUAiNVShKcw/s1600/2012samplelayoutforblog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="237" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--ms6oPqRszs/UKUNjUpu_1I/AAAAAAAAAog/MUAiNVShKcw/s320/2012samplelayoutforblog.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;It's hard to make a Kindle screenprint; I don't have a Kindle Fire, just an old-school black and white one, but here are prints from the emulator program.  The daily graphics are in color and so are the photos. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kH1NG1gomWs/UKUO8riQkfI/AAAAAAAAAoo/j8aNOYJjxrE/s1600/Kindle_screenprint1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kH1NG1gomWs/UKUO8riQkfI/AAAAAAAAAoo/j8aNOYJjxrE/s320/Kindle_screenprint1.png" width="280" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5TeCOGN59Cg/UKUO9ZSA6xI/AAAAAAAAAow/p0RLq8_X5oM/s1600/kindlescreenprint2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5TeCOGN59Cg/UKUO9ZSA6xI/AAAAAAAAAow/p0RLq8_X5oM/s320/kindlescreenprint2.png" width="253" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I welcome comments and suggestions.&amp;nbsp; This is my first attempt at a Kindle calendar so I'd love to know what you think.&amp;nbsp; transformations at obsidianbutterfly dot com.&amp;nbsp; &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2004. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2005. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2006.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2013</category>
2007.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">calendar</category>
2008.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Jaguar Nights</category>
2009.      <pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:52:00 GMT</pubDate>
2010.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2011.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-6506313392995615202</guid>
2012.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2013.      <dc:date>2012-11-15T15:52:00Z</dc:date>
2014.    </item>
2015.    <item>
2016.      <title>Cruise 2012:  Grand Cayman (NOT!) and homeward bound</title>
2017.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/10/cruise-2012-grand-cayman-not-and.html</link>
2018.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yk-mvp3Efl8/UJBIvCSIOuI/AAAAAAAAAl0/8sNcpF6F9QQ/s72-c/cruise_October2012-002-10-2.png" height="72" width="72" />
2019.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2020.      <content:encoded>All night the boat was heaving and groaning.  Since we were so low we heard lots of water rushing, and things clanking around.  Not surprising that early in the a.m. Jacques the lisping cruise director said we’d be getting into Grand Cayman at 10:45 instead of 10:00 due to the waves, and that we’d dock elsewhere than Georgetown but no shore excursions would be rescheduled.  Ours was at 11:30 so we weren’t worried.  &lt;b&gt;It was the only one we were doing with our friends—Reef and Ray Snorkel—and we were really looking forward to it, because we love Grand Cayman and the sting rays there.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just before we were ready to follow our ticket, our friends called.  They had been in line at the excursion desk and found out that &lt;b&gt;all the snorkeling tours had been canceled&lt;/b&gt;.  We were sad to miss our sting rays but we’d still get to walk around, buy cigars and rum cake right?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yk-mvp3Efl8/UJBIvCSIOuI/AAAAAAAAAl0/8sNcpF6F9QQ/s1600/cruise_October2012-002-10-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yk-mvp3Efl8/UJBIvCSIOuI/AAAAAAAAAl0/8sNcpF6F9QQ/s320/cruise_October2012-002-10-2.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;By the time our friends came down 1 level to our room, &lt;b&gt;they had announced that, although 5 tender boats were circling the Liberty waiting to take us all off, we weren’t going to Grand Cayman.&lt;/b&gt;  &lt;b&gt;It was RIGHT THERE outside the window and we couldn’t go.  &lt;/b&gt;Will was so angry.  He really loves Grand Cayman and he was feeling better and he promised his friends at work good cigars.   Our plan was to go to the comedy show that night, 3 comedians back-to-back for 3 hours, after dinner.  We all went to the pool, since we had bathing suits on, and while there, Jacques announced that &lt;b&gt;the comedians had been waiting on Grand Cayman to be picked up and thus…no comedians either.&lt;/b&gt;  We were all mad.  We had to wave goodbye to our favorite destination without going there, not knowing when we’d be back, and no comedians either!?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBoH-Oc1Bxw/UJBJP1vmzQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/sI0plFCi0Uw/s1600/cruise_October2012-015-10-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBoH-Oc1Bxw/UJBJP1vmzQI/AAAAAAAAAl8/sI0plFCi0Uw/s320/cruise_October2012-015-10-2.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;So it was two days back to Miami.  The pool water had all sloshed out so that day after Grand Cayman I didn’t spend much time in the pool.  The second formal night, the night we didn’t go to Grand Cayman, had no lobster for my hubby. The next day they had refilled the pool so I worked out for over an hour in the early morning before it got too hot.  We ate at the burger bar for lunch again, our usual spot, &lt;b&gt;indulged in the Chocolate Buffet&lt;/b&gt; after that, had our last dinner in the nice dining room, watched Pirates of the Caribbean for a while, while the pool water sloshed out around us—I saw video when I got home of a Disney cruise and the pool wasn’t half as violent, I didn’t even think of video taping the pool!  Packed up, headed home, feeling very sad.&amp;nbsp; (more under the pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jIYUpTPdCoc/UJBJ0AXQHVI/AAAAAAAAAmE/hmVKAf6xq7M/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-065-10-22-we.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jIYUpTPdCoc/UJBJ0AXQHVI/AAAAAAAAAmE/hmVKAf6xq7M/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-065-10-22-we.png" width="240" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlCUmkxFHa4/UJBJ1IxMWMI/AAAAAAAAAmM/mMJ5pOa3Lig/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-066-lliberty.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GlCUmkxFHa4/UJBJ1IxMWMI/AAAAAAAAAmM/mMJ5pOa3Lig/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-066-lliberty.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2t2HWrivx5I/UJBJ2Uh5aTI/AAAAAAAAAmU/KG71F1at8Qw/s1600/cruise_October2012-004-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="284" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2t2HWrivx5I/UJBJ2Uh5aTI/AAAAAAAAAmU/KG71F1at8Qw/s320/cruise_October2012-004-web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nsq_vCDKFZI/UJBJ3ItgwYI/AAAAAAAAAmc/SoyQaK1ws6g/s1600/cruise_October2012-005-copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="184" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Nsq_vCDKFZI/UJBJ3ItgwYI/AAAAAAAAAmc/SoyQaK1ws6g/s320/cruise_October2012-005-copy.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;One thing that really bothered my friend and me was that the Carnival Liberty's decor was so UGLY.&amp;nbsp; Pictures don't do its ugliness justice. Who designed this ship?&amp;nbsp; Were they blind or high?&amp;nbsp; Were they freshmen in high school? &lt;br /&gt;Here are more pics that weren't discussed &amp;amp; thus ends this chronicle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YhUh3r6yjjU/UJBKHUFKBmI/AAAAAAAAAmk/pE8AEAuRTVM/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-178-10-24-wi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="241" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YhUh3r6yjjU/UJBKHUFKBmI/AAAAAAAAAmk/pE8AEAuRTVM/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-178-10-24-wi.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Munl-mwwR74/UJBKIOABg-I/AAAAAAAAAms/Egu4b6JBVss/s1600/GIFTS_October2012-187-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="170" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Munl-mwwR74/UJBKIOABg-I/AAAAAAAAAms/Egu4b6JBVss/s320/GIFTS_October2012-187-web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QFhdN_Cnilg/UJBKJf9K9MI/AAAAAAAAAm0/rMTjTtDT9I8/s1600/GIFTS_October2012-189-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="311" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QFhdN_Cnilg/UJBKJf9K9MI/AAAAAAAAAm0/rMTjTtDT9I8/s320/GIFTS_October2012-189-web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GeKASS3Dlyk/UJBKKqLvzgI/AAAAAAAAAm8/Ov6eiwPZVSM/s1600/GIFTS_October2012-205-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GeKASS3Dlyk/UJBKKqLvzgI/AAAAAAAAAm8/Ov6eiwPZVSM/s320/GIFTS_October2012-205-web.png" width="250" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WBNqxZJ8_x8/UJBKLqo2PqI/AAAAAAAAAnE/a-UkRcN2H5A/s1600/cruise_October2012-012-10-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WBNqxZJ8_x8/UJBKLqo2PqI/AAAAAAAAAnE/a-UkRcN2H5A/s320/cruise_October2012-012-10-2.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8HKaQO6reCY/UJBKMrDGKXI/AAAAAAAAAnM/R8CYi6iUIsI/s1600/cruise_October2012-016-10-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="232" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8HKaQO6reCY/UJBKMrDGKXI/AAAAAAAAAnM/R8CYi6iUIsI/s320/cruise_October2012-016-10-2.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FgnaP4pUIoA/UJBKN4GnT6I/AAAAAAAAAnU/3Bw3DJy2E-8/s1600/cruise_October2012-019-10-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FgnaP4pUIoA/UJBKN4GnT6I/AAAAAAAAAnU/3Bw3DJy2E-8/s320/cruise_October2012-019-10-2.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TheURn2W8BE/UJBKPVdO6cI/AAAAAAAAAnc/gWHuf2d_1FI/s1600/stuff-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="291" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TheURn2W8BE/UJBKPVdO6cI/AAAAAAAAAnc/gWHuf2d_1FI/s320/stuff-web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2021. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2022. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2023.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Carnival Liberty</category>
2024.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise</category>
2025.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise ship</category>
2026.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">grand cayman</category>
2027.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">miami</category>
2028.      <pubDate>Thu, 25 Oct 2012 21:36:00 GMT</pubDate>
2029.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2030.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-2564244498398384872</guid>
2031.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2032.      <dc:date>2012-10-25T21:36:00Z</dc:date>
2033.    </item>
2034.    <item>
2035.      <title>Cruise 2012: Dolphin Extravaganza!</title>
2036.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/10/cruise-2012-dolphin-extravaganza.html</link>
2037.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4lDm9ZKfIo/UJBEHoa9JqI/AAAAAAAAAhs/2XDq8-9RcBo/s72-c/Cruise_Oct2012-103-10-24-ro.png" height="72" width="72" />
2038.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2039.      <content:encoded>We were last in Roatan (Honduras) on our 10th anniversary, 9 years ago, on the second cruise ship that ever went to the island.  And wow how Roatan has changed.  We docked at another of the ubiquitous dock-side shopping experiences.  This one was on a hill above the ship (no tenders!). (more text below pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4lDm9ZKfIo/UJBEHoa9JqI/AAAAAAAAAhs/2XDq8-9RcBo/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-103-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j4lDm9ZKfIo/UJBEHoa9JqI/AAAAAAAAAhs/2XDq8-9RcBo/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-103-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F2du9oFOqSQ/UJBEI5ewxjI/AAAAAAAAAh0/4kfVI5nnTwA/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-104-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F2du9oFOqSQ/UJBEI5ewxjI/AAAAAAAAAh0/4kfVI5nnTwA/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-104-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gdy0Dy003bc/UJBEJxDHERI/AAAAAAAAAh8/v_nXc-0lZB0/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-105-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gdy0Dy003bc/UJBEJxDHERI/AAAAAAAAAh8/v_nXc-0lZB0/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-105-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ev_fPsRZTtg/UJBEK8XSikI/AAAAAAAAAiE/yexM7MT3RPk/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-106-roatan-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ev_fPsRZTtg/UJBEK8XSikI/AAAAAAAAAiE/yexM7MT3RPk/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-106-roatan-1.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--u8w_JXa8_4/UJBEL66Z8sI/AAAAAAAAAiM/EWv51iDc1N4/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-107-roatan-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--u8w_JXa8_4/UJBEL66Z8sI/AAAAAAAAAiM/EWv51iDc1N4/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-107-roatan-1.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QmmmIyjLH4/UJBEMq3OWAI/AAAAAAAAAiU/u_ONNFQfiEo/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-108-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QmmmIyjLH4/UJBEMq3OWAI/AAAAAAAAAiU/u_ONNFQfiEo/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-108-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Our dolphin swim and snorkel didn’t leave until 10 a.m. so we had time to walk around first.  The first few shops I went into hoping to find some Mayan art were disappointing.  Honduras is at the edge of Maya-land, I know, but I did have hope.  But these shops seemed to carry art that looked more African, or even Australian.  I hadn’t found anything AWESOME yet for me or my friend and this was my last stop where it was possible.  Then I saw a place called Roatan Stone Art.  It was exactly what I had been looking for, and if Roatan had been an earlier stop I probably would have spent my budget there.  Nothing mass produced and badly carved, only nice and unique items.  I bought a pair of altar bowls.  Since we had forgotten towels and water my  husband headed back to the boat with the bowls to get the towels.&lt;br /&gt;We had to fill out ridiculous paperwork to go on the tour.  Basically it said &lt;b&gt;we could be eaten by, or at least munched on, by all sorts of wildlife from horses and iguanas to sharks, stingrays and dolphins, and if we did get eaten it wasn’t the tour group’s fault even if they shoved us into the mouth of a shark.  Excellent&lt;/b&gt;.  We signed.&lt;br /&gt;We took a short ride on a small Hyundai bus across the island from Mahogany Bay to &lt;a href="http://www.anthonyskey.com/" target="_blank"&gt;Anthony’s Key Resort&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span id="goog_860466221"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span id="goog_860466222"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;and the &lt;a href="http://www.anthonyskey.com/rims/roatan-institute-for-marine-sciences.htm" target="_blank"&gt;Roatan Maritime Institute&lt;/a&gt; where the dolphins were.  We walked through the jungle to a dock where we boarded a very small boat to cross the water to a little key, or cay, where the dolphins live.  One person said there were 24 dolphins, another 30.  Lots of dolphins, some babies. They were Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins, some bred in captivity and some wild-caught.&lt;br /&gt;The dolphin for our group was a 10 year old female named Marley who had rejected her last baby, which is apparently very rare, and the baby had been adopted by an older female.  She was a goofball of a dolphin.  Everything she did, she’d roll over a little and get her eye just out of the water and look at us to see if we approved.  The male trainer was trying to get her to blow his whistle and she was sticking out her tongue at him and then flopping her head around so her tongue flapped out of her mouth and laughing at him.  He said, “this isn’t a trick, this is her!” and then the dolphin went to the female trainer and immediately blew her whistle with no tongue action. (more text below the pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i5_8Cp4BuXo/UJBFIR2VHdI/AAAAAAAAAic/tIDwHH2RjCg/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-109-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="157" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i5_8Cp4BuXo/UJBFIR2VHdI/AAAAAAAAAic/tIDwHH2RjCg/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-109-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nxQLTY-bIuA/UJBFKBV4z8I/AAAAAAAAAis/DGY4pO8QwV0/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-112-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="303" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nxQLTY-bIuA/UJBFKBV4z8I/AAAAAAAAAis/DGY4pO8QwV0/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-112-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NlohQQOzr-M/UJBFLCa3uLI/AAAAAAAAAi0/j4J3p7AXbYY/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-113-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NlohQQOzr-M/UJBFLCa3uLI/AAAAAAAAAi0/j4J3p7AXbYY/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-113-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VvBvcdIfjkg/UJBFMIBEk7I/AAAAAAAAAi8/07a51QxLPY4/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-115-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="291" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VvBvcdIfjkg/UJBFMIBEk7I/AAAAAAAAAi8/07a51QxLPY4/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-115-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-galvYl2Z2EM/UJBFM5w3xoI/AAAAAAAAAjE/5JQtrV1cZAg/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-116-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="183" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-galvYl2Z2EM/UJBFM5w3xoI/AAAAAAAAAjE/5JQtrV1cZAg/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-116-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aBFdJt_8_hg/UJBFNTWPiVI/AAAAAAAAAjM/jJN3FtHduXY/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-118-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aBFdJt_8_hg/UJBFNTWPiVI/AAAAAAAAAjM/jJN3FtHduXY/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-118-10-24-ro.png" width="195" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ri070OdfvfU/UJBFOASBPmI/AAAAAAAAAjU/kmkZtxsHSjw/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-119-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="303" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ri070OdfvfU/UJBFOASBPmI/AAAAAAAAAjU/kmkZtxsHSjw/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-119-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ErEn_BDy8-c/UJBFQg2apCI/AAAAAAAAAjs/YLNb-k-otqI/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-139-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="190" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ErEn_BDy8-c/UJBFQg2apCI/AAAAAAAAAjs/YLNb-k-otqI/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-139-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uROgpcoz_aE/UJBFRa4jPOI/AAAAAAAAAj0/ShrXtCCsJ9U/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-140-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uROgpcoz_aE/UJBFRa4jPOI/AAAAAAAAAj0/ShrXtCCsJ9U/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-140-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_zl6pJEVdu8/UJBFSNp6-_I/AAAAAAAAAj8/Nik1SNqIrDM/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-147-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_zl6pJEVdu8/UJBFSNp6-_I/AAAAAAAAAj8/Nik1SNqIrDM/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-147-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eE9y1YISPLE/UJBFTPVHqzI/AAAAAAAAAkE/VzilHtUN6G0/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-148-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eE9y1YISPLE/UJBFTPVHqzI/AAAAAAAAAkE/VzilHtUN6G0/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-148-10-24-ro.png" width="311" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-el7hOhNe4fQ/UJBFUPIu_AI/AAAAAAAAAkM/dan4cOK47gg/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-157-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="253" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-el7hOhNe4fQ/UJBFUPIu_AI/AAAAAAAAAkM/dan4cOK47gg/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-157-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kH0JNi9VqBM/UJBFVEgcfKI/AAAAAAAAAkU/2CY3SCAggpE/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-158-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kH0JNi9VqBM/UJBFVEgcfKI/AAAAAAAAAkU/2CY3SCAggpE/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-158-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pSLcb7SXZa8/UJBFV3Ro3AI/AAAAAAAAAkc/Juf5aissMgE/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-159-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="202" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pSLcb7SXZa8/UJBFV3Ro3AI/AAAAAAAAAkc/Juf5aissMgE/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-159-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-81pNXo3fZyU/UJBFW2WtGkI/AAAAAAAAAkk/UQuX-gMHiZQ/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-160-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-81pNXo3fZyU/UJBFW2WtGkI/AAAAAAAAAkk/UQuX-gMHiZQ/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-160-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O4vCPOBIpE8/UJBFXpRp3AI/AAAAAAAAAks/VxocY0qVvCc/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-163-1-0-24-r.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O4vCPOBIpE8/UJBFXpRp3AI/AAAAAAAAAks/VxocY0qVvCc/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-163-1-0-24-r.png" width="162" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Basically we stood in waist-deep water with the dolphin and the trainers in front of us and the dolphin did tricks and swam back and forth in front of us so we could pet her.  We all got our pictures taken hugging her and getting a “kiss” (dolphin leans its beak on your cheek and grins).  We had 10 minutes to take our own pictures and videos (some of which are above...and more text is below).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-91QAciaNU/UJBGmdwNKrI/AAAAAAAAAk0/lMrM2jjS5Tk/s1600/557833_3300008239491_156992.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-91QAciaNU/UJBGmdwNKrI/AAAAAAAAAk0/lMrM2jjS5Tk/s320/557833_3300008239491_156992.png" width="155" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--9D52ViAqhQ/UJBGnb2nrNI/AAAAAAAAAk8/1JaoiMif5_k/s1600/664806_3291284781410_147021.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="212" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--9D52ViAqhQ/UJBGnb2nrNI/AAAAAAAAAk8/1JaoiMif5_k/s320/664806_3291284781410_147021.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eVbQHXLszrA/UJBGoDzRmPI/AAAAAAAAAlE/2549X1tdAIc/s1600/AKR_8019-copy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eVbQHXLszrA/UJBGoDzRmPI/AAAAAAAAAlE/2549X1tdAIc/s320/AKR_8019-copy.png" width="212" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then we put away our cameras and got our snorkels and fins (fins were required; I actually had bought a pair but Will had to rent them) and we got to snorkel freely around the lagoon while dolphins dive bombed us and played with us. It was so awesome.  If you had a piece of seaweed a dolphin would come and steal it.  Even the babies came around.  If you spun in place they’d race around you in a circle.  You’d hear them squeaking and then they’d come from behind (always from behind) and roll to look at you with their big brown eyes as you laughed and tried to pet them.  There were also all kinds of cool reef fish to look at, and corals, and lots of grass under the water.  It was maybe 15-20 feet deep and the various fish we saw were maybe 8-10” long at most.   It really felt like they were playing with us and teasing us, especially if you had seaweed.  If you put your hand out they would come and push it with their noses (the trainers did that a lot to them) like a cat or dog would.  I can’t explain how amazing it was.&lt;br /&gt;My mask kept getting water in it and I wasn’t scared or panicking, only annoyed that I had to come to the surface and clear it out.  Not one bit of panic attack, even when water came in my snorkel!   Normally we disdain having others take our pictures for money but in this case, we bought the pictures.  The deal was that it was $12.50 for each picture, minimum of 2, and if you bought all them of them it was $40 on a thumb drive, plus $10 for each other person in your group.  So a couple was $50.  I bought the thumb drive for $50 with no hesitation because some of the pictures came out really good.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--mhQxUkqJa8/UJBG9Dbl-vI/AAAAAAAAAlM/jdNPoNhGLfE/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-102-10-24-ro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--mhQxUkqJa8/UJBG9Dbl-vI/AAAAAAAAAlM/jdNPoNhGLfE/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-102-10-24-ro.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VVZAF4reRQo/UJBG-KRz3XI/AAAAAAAAAlU/ygvJhg8pGvc/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-171-10-24-be.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="177" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VVZAF4reRQo/UJBG-KRz3XI/AAAAAAAAAlU/ygvJhg8pGvc/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-171-10-24-be.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CsXvCZTgn48/UJBG-4yei1I/AAAAAAAAAlc/q3S83eU5u0M/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-172-10-24-be.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CsXvCZTgn48/UJBG-4yei1I/AAAAAAAAAlc/q3S83eU5u0M/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-172-10-24-be.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;We went for a drink at Fat Tuesdays on the way back to the ship &amp;amp; Will took my picture with the parrot-bird and &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/ToadPurse" target="_blank"&gt;Toad Purse&lt;/a&gt;.  Will had a Hurricane in an Atti-tube cup and he said it was the worse Hurricane he’d ever had.  He actually dumped it in the trash it was so bad.&lt;br /&gt;At dinner our friends surprised us with a heart shaped cake from the bakery that said Happy Anniversary (even though our anniversary had been 2 weeks before) and then we went to see &lt;a href="http://www.edgerockson.com/theshow.html" target="_blank"&gt;Edge Evolution&lt;/a&gt;, a juggling show, a sophisticated one.  He did juggling, ancient yoyo work, and thunder sticks, and did it on stilts and blind folded.  The ship was plowing through violent waves (Hurricane Sandy) and he only missed one trick because of it. &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2040. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2041. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2042.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise</category>
2043.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise ship</category>
2044.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">dolphins</category>
2045.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">honduras</category>
2046.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Roatan</category>
2047.      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:17:00 GMT</pubDate>
2048.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2049.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-10056407850710609</guid>
2050.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2051.      <dc:date>2012-10-24T21:17:00Z</dc:date>
2052.    </item>
2053.    <item>
2054.      <title>Cruise 2012: in which we get rained upon</title>
2055.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/10/cruise-2012-in-which-we-get-rained-upon.html</link>
2056.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPPR7oAUqDw/UJBB_b7jUlI/AAAAAAAAAhc/gZiBot01qRg/s72-c/Cruise_Oct2012-072-belize-1.png" height="72" width="72" />
2057.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2058.      <content:encoded>During his morning visit, Will got an inhaler from the doctor, with the same medicine they’d been putting up his nose with the nebulizer.  It went with the antibiotic and steroid pills he’d been given the day before.  Dr Fullerton is a cool doc.  He’s from Florida and had been a doctor in both the Army and the Navy, and had been stationed in Groton and liked it in New England.  When he gave Will the inhaler he told him to hide it in his pocket and not tell the nurses because we’d “already paid enough” for everything. I thought that was pretty nice of him.  He showed us where he got attacked on the face by jellyfish while swimming in Cozumel the day before, preparing for an Ironman in a few weeks.  He swam the actual course he’d be doing in the competition, a full one, with a 2.5 mile swim, 110 mile bike ride followed by a full marathon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPPR7oAUqDw/UJBB_b7jUlI/AAAAAAAAAhc/gZiBot01qRg/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-072-belize-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="191" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pPPR7oAUqDw/UJBB_b7jUlI/AAAAAAAAAhc/gZiBot01qRg/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-072-belize-1.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Then we took tender #18 to Belize City and walked around for exactly an hour. &lt;b&gt;The first thing I saw was the world's biggest cockroach, thankfully dead.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We were going to do the chocolate factory tour but it was lame and not worth $20 a person even with free chocolate bars included.  I had a chocolate shake there—it was high cacao chocolate, slightly bitter, the good stuff—and Will had an espresso, both made with local organic beans.  &lt;b&gt;While we were in the chocolate place there was a torrential downpour, like monsoon quality, rain solid in the sky, downpour.  It made me feel a little better about missing Xunatunich since they said you can’t climb the pyramid to see into Guatemala in the rain.  I really wanted to go, of course, to add another ruins site to my collect-the-whole-set, but not at my  husband’s health’s expense. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cpo4XQ8PapU/UJBBWCzn3MI/AAAAAAAAAhE/wGU4vXU59Rs/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-092-toad-10_.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="207" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cpo4XQ8PapU/UJBBWCzn3MI/AAAAAAAAAhE/wGU4vXU59Rs/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-092-toad-10_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The shopping village featured many, many wooden pillars carved into Mayan glyphs. I took photos of a lot of them but they were actually kind of lame.  The gylphs didn’t make any sense, they were just crammed 4 or 5 to a pillar. I bought a few things and we actually were about to board the very same tender that had brought us to the village (it had made a round trip to the ship while we shopped) but it was going off empty. (more text below pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzOBB9H0kzA/UJBBmzRrabI/AAAAAAAAAhM/RfA-mbufDzs/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-097-belize-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="238" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzOBB9H0kzA/UJBBmzRrabI/AAAAAAAAAhM/RfA-mbufDzs/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-097-belize-1.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kTqqyQ4l66I/UJBBoLOB9zI/AAAAAAAAAhU/s01wjxopXks/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-098-1023-bel.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kTqqyQ4l66I/UJBBoLOB9zI/AAAAAAAAAhU/s01wjxopXks/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-098-1023-bel.png" width="297" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8dHyitdMm8s/UJBHIOL0koI/AAAAAAAAAlk/l-2lSPQLXZ0/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-094-10-23-wi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8dHyitdMm8s/UJBHIOL0koI/AAAAAAAAAlk/l-2lSPQLXZ0/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-094-10-23-wi.png" width="294" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cTvA2riwdIk/UJBHJJpoDcI/AAAAAAAAAls/TEWH1PoGlT4/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-095-bert-10-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cTvA2riwdIk/UJBHJJpoDcI/AAAAAAAAAls/TEWH1PoGlT4/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-095-bert-10-.png" width="308" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;We were back in time for lunch, and Will felt really tired after only that little bit of slow walking. We ate at the hamburger place and I worked out in the pool and we hung out there for a little while.&lt;br /&gt;At dinner, I went in alone while they went up to the steak house.  The waiters kept trying to fill all 4 glasses with water. I’d say, “they aren’t coming” and hopefully they’d say “maybe they are” even though I said they went upstairs to the steak place.  Then they offered apple pie a la mode for dessert.  My husband loves apple pie. I got it to go for him and I went to get myself another piece of chocolate cake.  &lt;b&gt;And the bakery was out of chocolate cake.  Evidently someone came along and bought the whole cake!&lt;/b&gt;  They had carrot cake only, and one single chocolate chip cookie which seemed so lonely I just had to take it back to the room with me. I called room service for some hot chocolate and had my dessert in the room.&lt;br /&gt;When my  husband finally came in he laughed because I’d brought him dessert.  All 3 of them had &lt;b&gt;14 oz individual (!?) cheesecakes for dessert&lt;/b&gt; (and not finished them) and apparently the cheesecake was awesome and the food was awesome and I should have gone except that I don’t care much for steak and I hate seafood and that’s all they had.  He said he’d have the pie for breakfast.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nfHTgoXpwqQ/UJBCUbNK7ZI/AAAAAAAAAhk/Ge2I2MqoNfk/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-091-10_23-be.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="275" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nfHTgoXpwqQ/UJBCUbNK7ZI/AAAAAAAAAhk/Ge2I2MqoNfk/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-091-10_23-be.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2059. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2060. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2061.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">belize</category>
2062.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">chocolate. Xunatunich</category>
2063.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise</category>
2064.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise ship</category>
2065.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Guatemala</category>
2066.      <pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:02:00 GMT</pubDate>
2067.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2068.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-5963440338479507879</guid>
2069.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2070.      <dc:date>2012-10-23T21:02:00Z</dc:date>
2071.    </item>
2072.    <item>
2073.      <title>Cruise 2012: in which I get to keep my organs</title>
2074.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/10/cruise-2012-in-which-i-get-to-keep-my.html</link>
2075.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SiuW3jv7cQg/UJA4dlk5oOI/AAAAAAAAAbI/6mwgDVl1lr4/s72-c/notmygeo-web.png" height="72" width="72" />
2076.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2077.      <content:encoded>On Monday, I woke up at 3 because Will was coughing, and saw that we were in Cozumel, 4 + hours early.  &lt;b&gt;I tried to put the room service tray outside quietly in the dark, dropped it, broken glass everywhere, woke up my husband with the noise, had to call for a clean up, the phone didn’t work, had to hunt down a steward in person to clean up the glass.&lt;/b&gt; He came in with the vacuum, you can imagine the noise and confusion and mess.&amp;nbsp; My bad.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Went up to the Guest Services desk to tell them my husband had pneumonia and we had no phone and by the way, we’re in Cozumel, are you going to get my bag now?&lt;/b&gt;Hilarity ensued as the person said, “You can’t go ashore yet.”  “I don’t want to go ashore yet. I want YOU to go and get my bag.”  “You can’t go ashore yet.  We don’t dock until 7.” “yes, but clearly we &lt;i&gt;are docked&lt;/i&gt; already at 3 a.m., so how about someone goes and gets my bag?”  “We docked early because someone had a heart attack.”  Oops, they were just &lt;i&gt;determined&lt;/i&gt; to have &lt;i&gt;someone&lt;/i&gt; go to the Mexican hospital, weren’t they?  “That is too bad, but what about my bag?” (I am a heartless, selfish bitch sometimes, I admit it.)&lt;br /&gt;Finally she checked and found out that &lt;b&gt;the bag was coming into the Cozumel airport at 1 p.m.&lt;/b&gt; and they’d go get it then.  So I had no need to search out a dive shop and buy new snorkeling equipment.&lt;br /&gt;I went ashore in Cozumel alone at 7 a.m. (Will had an 8 a.m. doctor appointment.)  I had already arranged for a rental car to be at a rental place at the dock at 7:15 a.m.  &lt;b&gt;They  had assured me that the rental place was in a gas station “right there.”&lt;/b&gt;Yes, right there.  After you navigate on foot through their tourist village of shops and eager proprietors,  then down a promenade and through a parking lot and across the street and asking random Mexican men “&lt;i&gt;Donde esta el Pemex?  Pemex aqui?  Alli?  Donde?&lt;/i&gt;” and then finding the Pemex and the rental place and it doesn’t even open until 8 a.m. They were supposed to have an automatic transmission Chevy Aveo with air conditioning waiting for me.  No Chevy Aveo in sight.  No proprietor in sight.  Out comes the &lt;i&gt;muy mal, un poquito espanol&lt;/i&gt; again.&lt;br /&gt;Finally &lt;b&gt;Omar the car guy&lt;/b&gt; was located, hanging out with the glass-bottom boat guy.  (His name was really Omar.)  He had no idea I was coming or that I expected a vehicle.  He said he would get me a manual transmission car with A/C.  I said no, must be automatic.  All he had was a &lt;b&gt;Geo Trakker 4x4 with no A/C, but it was automatic.&lt;/b&gt;  I said fine.  I paid way too much money for it and waited for it to arrive. &lt;b&gt;It was red.  And rust.  It had no side windows.  It had no carpets.  The floor had holes in it.  The check engine light was on.  &lt;/b&gt;“&lt;i&gt;Es bueno&lt;/i&gt;,” They said.  “&lt;i&gt;No es bueno!&lt;/i&gt;”  “&lt;i&gt;es bueno!&lt;/i&gt;”  They give me a map, in Spanish.  The only landmark was the gas station itself and a shell in the intersection where I needed to turn right on my way to the San Gervasio ruins. &lt;b&gt;Reverse didn’t work.  The brakes really didn’t work.&lt;/b&gt;  &lt;i&gt;Solamente hablo espanol un poquito.  &lt;/i&gt;And thus, &lt;i&gt;sola&lt;/i&gt;, I was off.  Oh, and &lt;b&gt;I couldn’t get my cell phone to work, that was a bonus.&lt;/b&gt;  &lt;b&gt;Alone in Mexico, with purple hair, the worse rental car in the history of the world, and my cell wouldn’t connect to any network.  Great.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SiuW3jv7cQg/UJA4dlk5oOI/AAAAAAAAAbI/6mwgDVl1lr4/s1600/notmygeo-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="231" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SiuW3jv7cQg/UJA4dlk5oOI/AAAAAAAAAbI/6mwgDVl1lr4/s320/notmygeo-web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;In this paragon of a rattling, hiccupping vehicle, I set out into the Mexican jungle.  First I had to drive through the Mexican city and deal with all the topes (speed bumps) and people on scooters with small children and street signs I couldn’t quite decipher and a confusion over which blue building I was supposed to turn left at?&lt;br /&gt;Apparently Mexican men, workers crammed into the back of pick-up trucks, really like fat women with purple and blond hair and big black hats who are alone in barely functioning vehicles.  Or maybe they just want a green card, I don’t know.  But I was very popular.  Lots of honking, waving, wolf-whistles, being called “chica” and generally hollered at favorably.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-152KXSqoLOQ/UJA5Aafq1TI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/V24ot7rI6QM/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-057-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="155" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-152KXSqoLOQ/UJA5Aafq1TI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/V24ot7rI6QM/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-057-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I found my way to the giant shell in the middle of the intersection and turned, leaving the city and entering the type of long boring jungle road with occasional slum-houses that Mexico has everywhere.  Oh, and &lt;b&gt;lots of vultures, just hanging out on the sides of the road, waiting for my vehicle to crash so they and the jaguars could fight over who eats me.&lt;/b&gt;  Probably they’d id me by my purple hair streak after the animals were done.&lt;br /&gt;The turn off to San Gervasio didn’t warn of the dangers beyond.  Honestly the road was about 10 miles long, the speed limit was about 1 kilometer per hour and it was in terrible shape.  I thought my red rusty car-thing would shake to pieces on it.  At the end, I parked against a tree (oops—more on that later) and went in.  It cost a whopping $8 American to enter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYb2NI_zMuI/UJA5ndunz0I/AAAAAAAAAbY/h1vxbsCeqvE/s1600/cozumel-bert-toad-web.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="301" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYb2NI_zMuI/UJA5ndunz0I/AAAAAAAAAbY/h1vxbsCeqvE/s320/cozumel-bert-toad-web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;b&gt;I hired a little Mexican man, a Maya, for $18 American, to be my guide.  His name was Ruben &lt;/b&gt;(like the sandwich, like my evil mailman at home).  He was from the Uxmal area originally but his grandfather the shaman told him he had to “go east” and so he ended up in Cozumel in 1956 and had been working at this site ever since.&lt;b&gt;San Gervasio is the modern Spanish name for this site, a small sacred complex devoted to the fertility goddess Ix Chel.&lt;/b&gt;  I guess it isn’t very popular; no one else was there. Ruben and I walked around for two hours, talking.  His stories were a confusing mix of Christianity, New Age, and ancient paganism.  Some of what he said was wrong but I wasn’t going to argue with an old native man who claims a baktun is 2000 years long (it’s 396, approximately).  Of course Mexican-style Catholicism is basically a mix of the old religion and Jesus-worship in a way that’s much more pleasing than how American Catholics worship.  (I know because I used to be one, at least on the surface.  Scratch me and you’d find a pagan, always.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YJR_4nIsuuA/UJA59gEeKOI/AAAAAAAAAbg/-yIUgxGrsSI/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-040-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YJR_4nIsuuA/UJA59gEeKOI/AAAAAAAAAbg/-yIUgxGrsSI/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-040-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Ruben showed me a place where 2 bodies had been excavated.  He said they were &lt;b&gt;priests who didn’t quite live to be initiated fully and they had been carbon-dated to 10,000 BC.&lt;/b&gt;  He scoffed at all of the plaques erected by the government and said they were all wrong and laughed at me for taking pictures of them.  The internet says that it’s a late Classical site, erected probably around 1,000 AD so Ruben’s dating was only about 11,000 years off.   He said the site was devoted to the study of the sun, moon, and “eastern star” (Venus, I presume).  &lt;b&gt;The arch is at the exact center of the island (not according to any maps, but…) and is perfectly aligned to the cardinal directions and at noon on the five equinoxes (I know, there are only 2 per year) the sun is right overhead.&lt;/b&gt;  There is another name for this, not equinox, but I can’t remember it, and it only happens at certain places on the earth, and it might be ecliptic or solar zenith, but that doesn’t seem to be it either.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FnEX8TTZDvE/UJA6PhSSCOI/AAAAAAAAAbo/Z1nVc7t1l3E/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-033-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FnEX8TTZDvE/UJA6PhSSCOI/AAAAAAAAAbo/Z1nVc7t1l3E/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-033-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpuwSpOLnlM/UJA6Q2ZDzZI/AAAAAAAAAbw/3u0zYcdMvrs/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-035-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpuwSpOLnlM/UJA6Q2ZDzZI/AAAAAAAAAbw/3u0zYcdMvrs/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-035-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqOfoU3c2rY/UJA6R7YWziI/AAAAAAAAAb4/uE94miJH5rc/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-038-cozumelw.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqOfoU3c2rY/UJA6R7YWziI/AAAAAAAAAb4/uE94miJH5rc/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-038-cozumelw.png" width="240" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i8bF69X7t5o/UJA6S0l-s1I/AAAAAAAAAcA/CRAnb8BNQq0/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-039-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i8bF69X7t5o/UJA6S0l-s1I/AAAAAAAAAcA/CRAnb8BNQq0/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-039-cozumel-.png" width="240" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g15WQ42IrZw/UJA6k6TMB7I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SzvMW1dso0o/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-028-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;As we were walking toward the arch, Ruben mentioned that there are ocelots there. I’d been disappointed at the lack of iguanas (one big male and maybe a dozen females, the amount that should have been on a single building there) so I was excited to maybe see an ocelot.  Ruben misunderstood my agitation and said “now you are afraid of the tigers, huh?” and I said, “No, I want to see one!”  Although &lt;b&gt;I was confused if there were ocelots there (small wild cats, spotted) or jaguars (much larger cats, sometimes called tigers).  Ruben said that many hurricanes had hit the site and many of the animals were killed.  They were expecting a big population explosion of iguanas in the spring.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g15WQ42IrZw/UJA6k6TMB7I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SzvMW1dso0o/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-028-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g15WQ42IrZw/UJA6k6TMB7I/AAAAAAAAAcQ/SzvMW1dso0o/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-028-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qK6hWYWYt2g/UJA6j7QCBxI/AAAAAAAAAcI/dRn8ClwrKcc/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-027-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qK6hWYWYt2g/UJA6j7QCBxI/AAAAAAAAAcI/dRn8ClwrKcc/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-027-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;A dry cenote he showed me was next to a dry pond and he said a hurricane in 1988 drove the water underground and that when he saw both were empty he cried because it was fulfilling some ancient prophecy he knew of.  The water is 4-6 feet underground now, and the government archeologists have no interest in excavating to get it back to the surface.  Ruben also said the round cenotes were all dug by Spaniards and that people were sacrificed into ponds, and sacrifice was always voluntary. (text continues under the pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t8BimnA85g4/UJA7GWBmqWI/AAAAAAAAAcY/ZuHPF_ejnSM/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-045-cozumelw.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-t8BimnA85g4/UJA7GWBmqWI/AAAAAAAAAcY/ZuHPF_ejnSM/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-045-cozumelw.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCk6ValKptU/UJA7HQKgnEI/AAAAAAAAAcg/-ZSI9sfEjOE/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-052-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dCk6ValKptU/UJA7HQKgnEI/AAAAAAAAAcg/-ZSI9sfEjOE/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-052-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I&lt;b&gt; made an offering a spring water at the altar to Ix Chel (he said I did it very nicely, and faced the proper way) asking for creativity, although the original request there was for pregnancy, 19 of them per woman if the internet is to be believed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the buildings with red handprints, the one with the male iguana in the niche, he said was a sweat lodge (temazcal, although I couldn’t remember the Aztec word right then) for women who wanted to get pregnant, and that babies conceived after the mothers went to this sweat lodge could be priests. And the handprints were made by the priests themselves as they were initiated from age 2 to age 30 (or maybe 32, 30 years of training?) and then every 30 years after that until they died at age 90.&amp;nbsp; (text continues under the pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Uy8-zEZvGU/UJA7YIK2CrI/AAAAAAAAAco/ksQLNaHMRrA/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-016-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--Uy8-zEZvGU/UJA7YIK2CrI/AAAAAAAAAco/ksQLNaHMRrA/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-016-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VKRJOJd2_iE/UJA7ZGjGtdI/AAAAAAAAAcw/l2KY8MW4h5E/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-018-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VKRJOJd2_iE/UJA7ZGjGtdI/AAAAAAAAAcw/l2KY8MW4h5E/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-018-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLiip1Zq8g0/UJA7Z6D-wuI/AAAAAAAAAc4/F71Q1gdf3Mo/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-020-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JLiip1Zq8g0/UJA7Z6D-wuI/AAAAAAAAAc4/F71Q1gdf3Mo/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-020-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;He had joked when I hired him that his fee was $18 and double if I didn’t like it.  As we walked back to his station, he said, “I hope you didn’t like it,” and I said that I did, but I paid him $25.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Forsaking all logic and reason, I decided to drive around the perimeter of the island, alone in the rental car from hell with no phone.  That was when I found out about the reverse gear, or lack thereof, since I had parked with the car’s nose against a tree.  Slamming the gear shift violently from drive to reverse caused it to kind of lurch backward until I could get around the tree,&lt;/b&gt; drive back down that hideous road, and then for reasons unknown to me, turn left to drive around the loop rather than right and back into the town. (more text under the pics...)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--498WFQ9x6U/UJA71Bh4PUI/AAAAAAAAAdA/0doB-nMZMTE/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-058-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--498WFQ9x6U/UJA71Bh4PUI/AAAAAAAAAdA/0doB-nMZMTE/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-058-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5UGGWGPlzks/UJA72EeJlUI/AAAAAAAAAdI/QnP7pISjLpA/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-059-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5UGGWGPlzks/UJA72EeJlUI/AAAAAAAAAdI/QnP7pISjLpA/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-059-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TsUWZb_ztsE/UJA72x6DzbI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/-Wtj_5PeyeM/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-060-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TsUWZb_ztsE/UJA72x6DzbI/AAAAAAAAAdQ/-Wtj_5PeyeM/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-060-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QzGR_efCx5s/UJA737PUinI/AAAAAAAAAdY/pYaevdJ_D-o/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-061-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="198" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QzGR_efCx5s/UJA737PUinI/AAAAAAAAAdY/pYaevdJ_D-o/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-061-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Lots of vultures.  Men in trucks yelling at me.  The loop road was under construction so lots of shunting between the small beach-loop road and the bigger real road. &lt;b&gt; I was almost back to the side where the Carnival ship was docked when my map flew out the lack of windows.   Now the Carnival Liberty is a pretty big boat, and it was docked right against the land (not on top of it, like the poor Concordia last winter) so I figured if I could see it, I could find it, and thus the gas station where I had to return my vehicle.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HnUvLaymKKk/UJA8VZ0R3_I/AAAAAAAAAdg/rTaKjlOnr9A/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-062-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="280" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HnUvLaymKKk/UJA8VZ0R3_I/AAAAAAAAAdg/rTaKjlOnr9A/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-062-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;b&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;I was watching the kilometer signs go down in number, trying to convert to miles and thus time in my head, &lt;b&gt;when a giant alebrije flashed by on my right.  I collect small alebrijes (Mexican wooden, painted folk art from the Oaxaca area) but  never had I seen one 20 feet high.  &lt;/b&gt;I pulled into the exit road of the place since the entrance had already passed me and &lt;b&gt;damn if I didn’t go nose against the wall and no reverse on the damn gear shift.  And two guards with guns at the store staring at me as I slammed the car in and out of drive until I could inch around and park near the giant blue animal and take some photos and then zoom back up the exit and be on my merry way.&lt;/b&gt; I figure they probably were selling awesome alebrijes in the store but any store that has armed security I probably can’t afford right?&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I found the ship, found the gas station, and put $10 worth of gas in the car.  Then it wouldn’t start. I thought I’d have to abandon it at the pump but then I got it going.  I returned it and started back to the ship.  The glass-bottom boat guy stopped me.  “Did you just drive around the island and come back?”  He was indignant.  I showed him my San Gervasio wristband but he wasn’t satisfied.  He wanted me in that glass bottom boat. &lt;b&gt;I explained that my husband was in the sick bay with pneumonia and I was a bad enough wife for abandoning him so I could trek around Mexico alone with purple hair and a car from hell and probably men who wanted to harvest my organs in a hotel bathtub but Glass Bottom Boat man didn’t care.  I needed to be in that boat.   I did not go into the boat.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I walked back through the shopping village, got a couple of little alebrijes for my collection and a few other items, back onto the boat, and bye-bye Mexico until who knows when.  At least I made it there in 2012 right? (more text below pics)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cdeg5gvGtUQ/UJA8vtiCUoI/AAAAAAAAAdo/4xBVd8v3k8k/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-063-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cdeg5gvGtUQ/UJA8vtiCUoI/AAAAAAAAAdo/4xBVd8v3k8k/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-063-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dPC4g5JwhDA/UJA8wuLNzJI/AAAAAAAAAdw/A-nwIgrgam8/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-064-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dPC4g5JwhDA/UJA8wuLNzJI/AAAAAAAAAdw/A-nwIgrgam8/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-064-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;My hubby was just finishing his room service lunch.  He was only slightly better according to the medics, so with great sadness I made my way up one floor to the excursions desk and handed in our Xunatunich tickets for full credit.  There was no way he could go and I felt guilty enough for my Mexican morning alone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Our bag was delivered around 4:30. It was almost anti-climatic at that point, even though I was very happy to have my snorkel.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When we met up with our friends for dinner, we found out that our waiters had been very concerned by our absence at formal night, especially since we’d been asking the night before if that was lobster night.  I guess one of the waiters had seen me around the sick bay and thought &lt;i&gt;I&lt;/i&gt; was sick.  Since my friend is a nurse she knew that Will had been really sick but she didn’t know it was pneumonia until they saw us again.  They had gone to Coba and climbed the pyramid there and had an awesome time.  Everyone was glad to have us back. Everyone but me ordered cheesecake for dessert.  Apparently it was the world’s worse cheesecake (exepct possibly the cheesecake at Ponderosa many years ago) and when they complained, the waiter (who looked a lot like Karl Pilkington from the Idiot Abroad series on Science Channel) said, “I never recommend the cheesecake.”  Which we learned was his code for “that sucks, don’t order it.”  So they KNOW the cheesecake is bad but they keep making it the same way?   After dinner we walked upstairs to the steakhouse.  Nothing on the menu was worth the extra $35 to me but my husband and our friends really wanted to try it, so they made reservations for the next night.&lt;br /&gt;Below are the pictures that aren't mentioned in the narrative but you may enjoy looking at them. No more text after that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0wrIAaDnsXY/UJA9W1sjoYI/AAAAAAAAAd4/FgdTctLxsQ0/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-010-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0wrIAaDnsXY/UJA9W1sjoYI/AAAAAAAAAd4/FgdTctLxsQ0/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-010-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vAh9NXdBYds/UJA9Xu-0w1I/AAAAAAAAAeA/LIuVVj1E8pw/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-012-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vAh9NXdBYds/UJA9Xu-0w1I/AAAAAAAAAeA/LIuVVj1E8pw/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-012-cozumel_.png" width="147" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mf0InbPoV_Q/UJA9Yi9ERRI/AAAAAAAAAeI/RDkRj8i0Ano/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-014-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mf0InbPoV_Q/UJA9Yi9ERRI/AAAAAAAAAeI/RDkRj8i0Ano/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-014-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbja3Wv4QOQ/UJA9Z6YBzeI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/qnuQJkvIm9Y/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-015-lizard_w.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mbja3Wv4QOQ/UJA9Z6YBzeI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/qnuQJkvIm9Y/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-015-lizard_w.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nhLwZnVihoI/UJA9bG6XT1I/AAAAAAAAAeY/YLOM0L5LWww/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-021-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nhLwZnVihoI/UJA9bG6XT1I/AAAAAAAAAeY/YLOM0L5LWww/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-021-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8s3Z2yPtOLk/UJA9cMAKU7I/AAAAAAAAAeg/FqUFW4SFEOw/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-022-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="192" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8s3Z2yPtOLk/UJA9cMAKU7I/AAAAAAAAAeg/FqUFW4SFEOw/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-022-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LS2qvz5jb9M/UJA9dGkD06I/AAAAAAAAAeo/SE7KgsOOZUw/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-024-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LS2qvz5jb9M/UJA9dGkD06I/AAAAAAAAAeo/SE7KgsOOZUw/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-024-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="168" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U_Ka4cfjBlI/UJA9gbQJnuI/AAAAAAAAAfA/bXdta5i3TbE/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-029-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KrB59Mp2mTo/UJA9hG8m6yI/AAAAAAAAAfI/cTn0MXYfcEU/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-030-cozumel_.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="222" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KrB59Mp2mTo/UJA9hG8m6yI/AAAAAAAAAfI/cTn0MXYfcEU/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-030-cozumel_.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r_XwHLH9ua0/UJA9iDNmtsI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/FNwuub2KrEA/s1600/Cruise_Oct2012-031-cozumel-.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r_XwHLH9ua0/UJA9iDNmtsI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/FNwuub2KrEA/s320/Cruise_Oct2012-031-cozumel-.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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2078. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2079. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2080.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Carnival Liberty</category>
2081.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cozumel</category>
2082.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise</category>
2083.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise ship</category>
2084.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan ruins</category>
2085.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Mexico</category>
2086.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">san gervasio</category>
2087.      <pubDate>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:46:00 GMT</pubDate>
2088.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2089.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-162876386631214734</guid>
2090.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2091.      <dc:date>2012-10-22T19:46:00Z</dc:date>
2092.    </item>
2093.    <item>
2094.      <title>Cruise 2012: in which pneumonia strikes</title>
2095.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/10/cruise-2012-in-which-pneumonia-strikes.html</link>
2096.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ogff4oJ0i7g/UJAtQwUiYWI/AAAAAAAAAa4/7k-i7xe5yz0/s72-c/615904_510717122271732_6474.png" height="72" width="72" />
2097.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2098.      <content:encoded>After not sleeping well again, I was up very early on Sunday 10/21/21.  We both coughed all night.  I went down to the medic and explained about the lost bag (which really did contain a full, brand-new sealed bottle of Nyquil) and my yearly chronic cough (which I haven’t had in years, this cough was acute) and got a small bottle of cough syrup free.  I went upstairs and dosed Will with it.  It was green and horrible.  I wanted him to go to the medic for real but he said he was afraid they’d put him off the boat for having “flu-like symptoms” and refused to go.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ogff4oJ0i7g/UJAtQwUiYWI/AAAAAAAAAa4/7k-i7xe5yz0/s1600/615904_510717122271732_6474.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="317" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ogff4oJ0i7g/UJAtQwUiYWI/AAAAAAAAAa4/7k-i7xe5yz0/s320/615904_510717122271732_6474.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I gathered my lost luggage paperwork and headed to the Guest Services help desk and spent a lovely hour there winning friends and influencing people.  Oh that’s right, that was &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/ToadPurse"&gt;Toad Purse&lt;/a&gt; making friends, not me. It turned out that &lt;b&gt;our Carnival Cruise protection plan actually covered the airline losing the luggage.  If the luggage wasn’t located in a timely manner, or if I needed to purchase replacement items before it was found, Carnival would pay me back.  Even if I had to buy $100 more worth of new snorkel equipment.&lt;/b&gt;  They gave me two toiletries kits (just to add to my gallon of existing stuff) and a voucher for free cleaning because somehow I packed only shirts in my carry-on and all my pants in the duffel bag.  I had the cargo pants I wore on the plane, and another pair of capris, and some spandex bike shorts.  That was it.&lt;br /&gt;We had arranged to meet our friends for lunch.  Will could barely walk or breathe.  I asked if he wanted to go to the medic and he said no.  We headed the length of the ship to the back, found our friends, picked up plates for the buffet--and Will said, “I need the doctor.” Put down the plates, walk back to the front of the boat and down from level 9 to 0 and the doctor’s closed until 3.  My poor husband was doubled over half dead.  I found a crew member and told him &lt;b&gt;it was a real emergency, that Will couldn’t breathe,&lt;/b&gt; and he called someone and the medical people arrived and swarmed him. They had him in their little sick-bay bed almost immediately, oxygen tubes up his nose, IV in his arm, then a mask over his face to administer medicine.  His oxygen saturation level was only 86 (should be 98 or 99 percent).&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;I stayed for a while but I was useless and in the way, and the nurses said he’d be there until at least 3 p.m., so I left to go to the 24 hour pizzeria and see if I could find our friends (I couldn’t, and I couldn’t remember their room number to call them).  I came back at 3 to see if he was ready to go.  He wasn’t.   &lt;b&gt;I thought we’d make it to formal night and he’d get his lobster.  We didn’t. He wasn’t allowed to walk.  He wasn’t allowed on shore the next day.  They had to call for a wheelchair.&lt;/b&gt;  They called at 5 and it didn’t come until 5:45 and our dinner seating was at 6 so there was no way we could make the formal night since we needed to shower (I’d gone in the salt water pool early in the morning and my hair was crusty, for one thing).&lt;br /&gt;Will had multiple breathing treatments, antibiotics through the IV, pure oxygen up his nose, and his level was only in the low 90s.  The nurse said that if he’d gone into an emergency room in the U.S. with his symptoms, he would have been admitted.  They said he could go to the hospital in Mexico the next day but obviously we didn’t want that, and they also thought he’d probably get better care staying on the ship.  (My friend, who is a triage nurse at an ER, said that the prices on the ship were really very cheap and it would be cheaper to get a physical there than in the U.S. without insurance!)  &lt;b&gt;He had two chest x-rays on their crappy little machine and he had pneumonia in one lung.  The bill was $800, charged to our on-board account (also known as our Discover card).  The nurse pronounced him “a very sick man” and made me feel slightly guilty for not staying at his side all day.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;In lieu of formal night’s lobster and steak, my husband had a sandwich from room service and I had more pizza.  When I came back he complained that his room service sandwich had been too small and I walked back up to deck 9 to get him another one from the deli; it was a bigger, better sandwich with more meat, he said.&lt;br /&gt;I was still angry over the loss of our bag.  I found a flyer that said if you applied for a Carnival Fun Points credit card you’d get a free backpack.  I filled out the app and climbed up to deck 5 (we were on 2) and &lt;b&gt;got 2 free backpacks so I’d have a small bag when I went ashore for cameras, water, etc., since my tote bag was MIA inside the duffel.&lt;/b&gt;  I have no idea if we got the credit card or not and honestly I don’t care, I only wanted the backpacks.  They also gave me 2 lanyards for our Carnival IDs and punched mine so I could use the lanyard.&lt;br /&gt;I found the bakery and bought a giant piece of chocolate cake for $2. It did not make me feel better.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The medics had already said the only way Will was going ashore in Cozumel was en route to the hospital.  I was worried about our excursion to Xunatunich the next day in Belize; it was a long bus ride and then hours of walking around Mayan ruins and climbing the pyramid.  I didn’t want to go alone.&lt;/b&gt; (Our friends went to Altun Ha, which we already visited on a previous trip in 2003.  Or maybe they went cave tubing.  Either way, not with us.)  I was worried &lt;b&gt;if Will’s breathing got bad he’d end up in a Belize hospital, and who wants to be in a hospital in a country with only 3 stop lights.  In the WHOLE COUNTRY.  I can’t imagine what their jaguar-to-stop-light ratio is but I bet it’s very high.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I stopped by the excursions desk and noted that there were no refunds within 24 hours of an excursion if cancelled and only 25% refund if cancelled with more than a day’s notice.  I showed them the $800 bill saying PNEUMONIA and they agreed to cancel Xunatunich for a full refund if necessary.  So no Mayan pyramid in Belize for me this trip.  :(&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;I stopped at the Guest Services desk to check on the bag.  They said it was sitting in DC, having never made the plane.  I was somehow completely unsurprised by that.&lt;/b&gt;  But it was going to be sent to Cozumel, and someone from Carnival would pick it up and transport it to our room as soon as we arrived in Cozumel at 7 a.m. the next morning. &lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2099. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2100. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2101.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Carnival Liberty</category>
2102.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise ship</category>
2103.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">pneumonia</category>
2104.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sick bay</category>
2105.      <pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 2012 19:18:00 GMT</pubDate>
2106.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2107.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-5663658544715469617</guid>
2108.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2109.      <dc:date>2012-10-21T19:18:00Z</dc:date>
2110.    </item>
2111.    <item>
2112.      <title>Cruise 2012: in which much goes awry</title>
2113.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/10/cruise-2012-in-which-much-goes-awry.html</link>
2114.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1e97RY2TUs/UJAnc_jerTI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/U1lMOFHr6BM/s72-c/carnival-liberty_web.png" height="72" width="72" />
2115.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2116.      <content:encoded>The first of several entries detailing my recent cruise to the Caribbean. &amp;nbsp;There are other pictures, featuring my giant stuffed traveling toad, on my &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/ToadPurse"&gt;Toad Purse Facebook page.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;We did what we were supposed to do.  None of it was our fault.  Really. I never went to sleep on Friday night.  I don’t think Will slept much either.  So we were up by 2:45 a.m. and left by 3:30 a.m. for a 5:50 a.m. flight.  We were at Bradley in plenty of time.  Checked the big bag (remember that sad statement later) and got on the plane with the carry-on bags.  See?  Everything in its place.&lt;br /&gt;Or not.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="right" border="1" style="width: 100px;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;toiletries interlude: When we went through security in Bradley, I got stopped. They didn’t put me in the bomb box this time like they did in North Carolina a few years ago, but I got pulled aside and my bag searched. Why? I did an unforgivable sin. I packed my toiletries in a GALLON ziplock instead of a QUART. They decided that since it was toiletries for two, the gallon bag was okay just this once. I did not point out that a gallon contains 4 quarts not 2. But I got lectured by some 85-IQ guy in a fake cop suit. “THIS is a quart bag. THIS is your bag. THIS is a GALLON.” Well jeez I’m sorry okay, clearly I’ve totally ruined the airport for the day and it better shut down. I got off with just a warning, this time.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;The captain comes on.  &lt;b&gt;Says that through a snafu of some sort (not his fault, either), we are on the wrong plane.  At the wrong gate.&lt;/b&gt;  The plane in which we are all ensconced is actually going to Newark instead of Washington DC.  And it needs maintenance.  Apparently it needs maintenance so badly that it can’t possibly go the couple of extra hundred miles to DC instead of Newark.  So “they” (presumably the same “they” that put us on the wrong plane) won’t let us stay on this plane.  Possession is NOT nine tenths of the law with planes, I guess.&lt;br /&gt;We all get off the plane, collect our carry-ons from under the seat and the overhead compartments where nothing shifted because the plane never moved.  We walk down the stairs, across the runway, up the stairs, across the concourse to another gate, outside, down the stairs, across the runway, up some more stairs (tiny planes didn’t fit the jetway) and get on the IDENTICAL plane.  Meanwhile our baggage is doing the same, invisibly.&lt;br /&gt;We’re on another plane, supposedly the proper plane, waiting again.  &lt;b&gt;Wondering why it was okay for the previous plane to fly to Newark to get serviced but another couple hundred miles to DC would have caused it to fall apart in midair or something.  And what idiot flies from Hartford to Newark anyway?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And now this plane is out of gas.  I can’t make this stuff up.  &lt;b&gt;We have to wait for the gas truck to come up and fill up the plane. Obviously this makes us very, very late.&lt;/b&gt;  We’re in the air still at the time we’re supposed to board our next plane to Miami.  Naturally we are very concerned about making that flight.  We’re meeting a cruise ship, not merely checking into a hotel, so time really matters.  And our friends were picking us up at MIA at 11 a.m. in their rental car so we could all have lunch somewhere fun before hitting the cruise ship at 1:30.  Well, not HITTING it, that would be bad.  Getting there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The flight attendants assure us that they will hold the connection planes and if not we’ll AUTOMATICALLY be booked onto the next plane going to our destination and our bags will AUTOMATICALLY follow&lt;/b&gt;.  Because clearly our one hour layover has been completely eaten by the whole wrong plane no gas debacle.&amp;nbsp;  &lt;br /&gt;They announce our connecting gate of D4 at Dulles. They announce our arrival gate of C18. We land. C18 is right near D4.  Our plane is still at D4.  And there’s a random plane at C18.  That plane is injured in some way and can’t leave. Or maybe it’s in a snit, it’s an emo plane.  I don’t know.&lt;br /&gt;Our plane is going on a Sunday drive (although it’s Saturday) cruising at low speed around the Dulles runways waiting for a gate to open.  We keep checking out D4.  Plane to Miami is still there.  The flight attendant tells us to tell the gate attendant as soon as we exit this plane to call D4 and hold the plane while we run.  Gate C21 opens, even closer to D4. &lt;br /&gt;The attendant at C21 is a major bitch.  She doesn’t want to call D4.  We beg.  She is in a snit, probably related to the snit of the plane still crouched at our real gate of C18.  She calls.  We run.  We are both sick, coughing and my lungs are falling out but &lt;b&gt;we run and get to gate D4 and there’s our plane and the f*king attendant there won’t let us on the plane.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;“We called ahead!  We RAN.”  We’re fat and sick.  Give us a break.  She was adamant.  “We don’t hold flights.”  “We called!  We ran!”  Nope.  TFB, basically, go back to customer service at gate C19 and complain. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;table align="left" border="1" style="width: 100px;"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #351c75;"&gt;  sick interlude: Tuesday night we had dinner with my mom. She works at an elementary school as a recess and lunch lady. She is always bringing home exotic kid diseases. She was coughing that night. Wednesday I woke up coughing and with no voice, and Friday I skipped the gym because I was still coughing, and of course Will started coughing too. I called my mom before we left and said she made us both sick right before our vacation and she denied it.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;At this point my lungs started to bubble and burble, this means bronchitis.  I could barely walk.  No more running in my future.  Will went ahead to get into line and get our AUTOMATIC new flight to Miami.  Our whole entire plane was in line already. Luckily it was a small plane with few people!  I&lt;b&gt; called Expedia on my cell phone (I bought travel insurance).  Expedia called United.  They were on hold with United, I was on hold with Expedia and waiting in line at United.&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is efficiency at its best, folks. Finally they arranged for us to&lt;b&gt; take a taxi to Reagan International Airport 45 minutes away and switch from United to American and get to Miami at 1:40 which seemed like plenty of time to make the cruise ship which leaves at 5:00 right.&lt;/b&gt;  Because there were no more flights on any carrier to Miami from DC that would get there in time to make the cruise ship.  When we get our turn at the United CSR they give us a voucher for $70 for the cab fare to Reagan in Virginia and &lt;b&gt;tell us to run and that we probably still won’t make it.&lt;/b&gt;  “What about our checked bag?”  “It probably made the flight to Miami, it will be waiting for you there at the United unclaimed baggage.”  Now, remember that we got off the previous flight and RAN and didn’t make it, how the heck did our luggage make it?  But they said it did so we had to believe them.&lt;br /&gt;I text my friends that we aren’t going to be lunching with them or need a ride and to go to the ship without us.  Dulles offers no golf carts.  &lt;b&gt;We have to run again, the length of the airport, not even any people-moving sidewalks.  We have to find a specific brand of cab that will take our voucher.&lt;/b&gt;  We find one.  My husband offers the guy $40 extra in cash to get us there before 10 for our 11 a.m. flight (it’s 9:30).  Hey, it works in the movies. The cab driver programs his GPS.  That’s a little worrying but I try not to freak.  He takes off sedately.  The highway is uncrowded.  He is going fifty in a fifty-five zone.  I call Carnival and explain our predicament, and tell them that there are still about a dozen people from Hartford stuck at Dulles and no clue how they are going to make the ship.  The cab driver, ignoring the cash Will’s waving, continues to poke along.  I ask the Carnival lady, “What happens if we miss this flight?” because just then we hit a 2 mile traffic jam leading to exit 75 which is the one for the airport and now it’s 10 a.m. and we’re dead stopped.  &lt;b&gt;The Carnival lady says we need to “make our way to Cozumel” (the first port of call, on Monday) and meet the ship there.  This sounds expensive.  The next flight to Miami from anywhere in Washington DC leaves at 3:45 and we’ll need to be on that to collect our bag, which is waiting for us in Miami remember, so we can’t even fly right to Cancun from DC if we miss this flight.  Which it looks like we are going to do.  Because of this stupid cab driver who wouldn’t take a bribe and now we’re stuck in traffic anyway and it’s 10:00 a.m. and we need to be in line for the plane already and we have to go through security and get our boarding passes before we can get on the plane.  So we are losing our minds.  And coughing, don’t forget coughing.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We arrive at the airport at 10:15 and the driver, realizing finally that he’s a jerk, doesn’t take the $40 but he does make us come back into the cab and sign a bunch of paperwork after we've already collected our reduced luggage and are walking away.  We try to do curbside check-in but we can’t because we only have vouchers, not boarding passes.  &lt;b&gt;We go into the e-ticket line (because that’s what the CSR at the other airport said we had) but we couldn’t get the machine to work with any numbers on our paperwork.  The crabby lady there said we had to wait in the long line for unimportant peons.&lt;/b&gt;  I’m almost crying and my lungs are burbling away.   We’re in the long line.  The curbside check in guy comes in with someone’s bags and sees us in line and gets mad.  He says “I shouldn’t get involved, but you shouldn’t be in this line!  You’re going to miss your flight.  You should be over there!” He points to the e-ticket area.  We tell him that dragon-bitch sent us away.  Dragon bitch is glaring at us.  &lt;b&gt;The curbside guy pulls us out of line and past dragon bitch to some nice guy named Mike who takes care of us instantly and says the security line is short and we’ll make it but we have to get seat assignments at the gate.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;And then I remember the stupid gallon bag and this is DC and 9/11 and all that and I want to kick myself in the head.  I resolve to just abandon the toiletries if they give me a problem about my big bag. They don’t even notice the gallon bag, thank all the gods.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We run again. I’m wheezing and coughing.  We get to the gate.  The flight is boarding.  I run to the desk and say “we have no seat assignments” and the woman, bless her lovely heart, hands us our tickets all printed out and waiting.  &lt;b&gt;We get on the plane!  We make the ship!  All is well! Well, no. &lt;/b&gt;Remember, way back at 5 a.m. in Bradley, 6 hours ago, when we checked our duffle bag?  Yeah, that duffle bag.  The one checked through on United to Miami that was going to waiting for us at United’s unclaimed baggage area when we got there at 1:40.&lt;br /&gt;We get to Miami International Airport.  We go to the baggage claim area for American and claim our carry-ons that got checked through.  Then I go to the Carnival desk and ask for help and in exchange I buy 2 tickets on the Carnival transport bus since our friends are already on the ship, their rental car long turned in.  &lt;b&gt;The Carnival lady calls United.  They have no record of the bag.  They say that because we got moved to American, they have the bag.  She calls American.  They say that it’s a United claim tag and United has to help us and they have no record of the bag.&lt;/b&gt;I leave my husband at the Carnival desk with the bags we have and trudge about a mile to the United desk to find our other bag.  I was there a very long time.  They had no record of anything.  &lt;b&gt;By the time I was done there I wasn’t sure that I existed or that I had flown to Miami at all that day.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Even though I was freaking, I let a guy go ahead of me because he was crying.  They (the same They that can’t figure out what plane goes where, I’m guessing) had failed to check his luggage through to Bonaire and he needed to claim it and get back through security to his Bonaire flight and the baggage wasn’t on the carousel and he only had 48 minutes and basically they told him “we’ll find it and send it to Bonaire on the next flight” and he said “that’s in 3 days, the flight I’m leaving on!” and it was his scuba equipment (my friend goes diving there, I guess it’s gorgeous) and he ran to catch the Bonaire flight with no luggage at all and I felt terrible for him. Also in line were a pair of off-duty cops who said that the airline lost “seven bags of confidential police material” whatever that means and they were pretty pissed off too.  And they probably had guns.  I kept my distance.  Apparently there was a cop and fireman convention in town.&lt;br /&gt;When it was finally my turn (I wasn’t freaking out yet, we had 2 hours to get to the ship, it was a half hour away and we had a ride arranged on the bus) &lt;b&gt;the guy was super nice and helpful but still could give me no information about my mysterious invisible missing bag.&lt;/b&gt;  He made copies of my documents and filled out the form saying my black duffel bag, style 25 (oh yeah, &lt;b&gt;this bag has been lost by airlines before&lt;/b&gt;), with my snorkeling gear and half our clothes and more toiletries and my tote bag and 2 umbrellas and a notebook and extra batteries and basically all kinds of stuff I packed because we NEED it, is missing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1e97RY2TUs/UJAnc_jerTI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/U1lMOFHr6BM/s1600/carnival-liberty_web.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="286" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1e97RY2TUs/UJAnc_jerTI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/U1lMOFHr6BM/s320/carnival-liberty_web.png" width="320" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&amp;nbsp;I had to write down every port of call and the ship’s shore times (provided thanks to the kind Carnival lady who called both airlines for me) so the bag might be able to catch up on one of them.  &lt;b&gt;The guy said that he was sure the bag made it onto the DC to Miami flight and they’d find it and send it to the cruise ship before it left the Port of Miami.  Even though we ran and didn’t make the flight, our bag was evidently magical and did. &lt;/b&gt;We gave up on our poor missing duffel bag and got on the last bus to the cruise ship with two ladies.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&amp;nbsp;As we were (running of course)  going through the port doing the check-in procedure, they asked us if we had any “flu like symptoms” and we lied without blinking an eye, holding in our coughs.  We’re fine, keep moving, nothing to see here.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Will was feeling worse and worse. I’d left a lung behind in DC.  We had dinner with our friends and went to sleep after a long and stressful day, both feeling sick and with no sleep the night before.  That was Day 0. Oh, and our bag didn’t arrive.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2117. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2118. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2119.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">airline</category>
2120.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">airport</category>
2121.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Carnival</category>
2122.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Carnival Liberty</category>
2123.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cruise</category>
2124.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">lost luggage</category>
2125.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">missed planes</category>
2126.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">vacation</category>
2127.      <pubDate>Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:34:00 GMT</pubDate>
2128.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2129.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-1786511227346276454</guid>
2130.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2131.      <dc:date>2012-10-20T14:34:00Z</dc:date>
2132.    </item>
2133.    <item>
2134.      <title>how to live multidimensionally through sacred geometry</title>
2135.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/08/how-to-live-multidimensionally-through.html</link>
2136.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2137.      <content:encoded>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left" class="style1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Here is a reprint of a new &lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/articles/howtolivemultidim.html"&gt;Sacred Geometry article&lt;/a&gt; on my website.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left" class="style1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;This is a version of the text of my lecture at the Astrological Society New Age Fair on 19 August, 2012, minus the meditation.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left" class="style1" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;All the graphics are opriginally from the two volumes of the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;by Drunvalo Melchizedek, although I have altered them in many cases (I created the looping gif, and the multicolored Flower of Life sphere, and colored the merkaba positions).&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sacred Geometry&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;is not what you learned sophomore year of high school. This is something much different and much more fun. Sacred Geometry is the organizational basis of all that exists, has existed and will exist. Found within these patterns are both two and three dimensional shapes which carry archetypal memories.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;This is a very brief introduction to what Sacred Geometry is and how you can use these concepts to expand your consciousness. The basic form of sacred geometry is called the&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;Flower of Life&lt;/strong&gt;. It is a beautiful interlocking series of circles. Each circle’s circumference crosses other circles’ center points.&lt;br /&gt;You can draw the Flower of Life yourself, using a high quality compass. The basic steps look like this, with the finished product (usually illustrated with a double circle as a frame) in the lower right.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height="115" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/how%20to%20draw%20FOL%20to%20print.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;The eye-shaped space in between each set of circles has its own meaning. One circle represents universal consciousness, the gold/solar source, and unchanging archetypes linked with, in the other circle, empirical consciousness, the silver/lunar reflection, and the changing realm of the senses, through the eye-shaped center that encompasses balanced human consciousness.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;The curved lines of the Flower of Life promote feminine, right-brained thinking. When you apply the straight lines of Metatron’s Cube, you add in the left-brained, masculine thinking. So if you need to concentrate more on one type of thinking or the other, or you feel unbalanced, you can meditate on either the curved shape, the straight line shape, or the combination.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;I call this Flower of LIfe figure “the mother of sacred geometry” because every important shape can be found within it, including the five Platonic Solids, named for the great Greek philosopher Plato. It is an ancient symbol which has been found all over the ancient world.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;The five Platonic Solids are the tetrahedron, the cube (hexahedron), the octahedron, the dodecahedron, and the icosahedron. If you have ever been involved with role-playing games, these will be familiar to you, as the shapes of the dice.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;To find the 5 shapes within the Flower of life, you extract a shape called Metatron’s Cube. You select these 13 circles from the Flower of Life shape—this is called the Fruit of Life—and then join all the centers with 78 straight lines to make Metatron’s Cube. This ancient shape, named for an angel, has been used to ward off evil and can be carried as a talisman.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img alt="extract metatron's cube from flower of life" height="77" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/extract%20metatrons%20cube.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;From within Metatron’s cube, you can find the five Platonic Solids:&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Tetrahedron&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img height="112" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/tetrahedron-in-metatron.jpg" width="216" /&gt;&lt;img height="74" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/tetrahedron%203%20views%20copy.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Cube (hexahedron)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img height="123" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/cube-metatron.jpg" width="216" /&gt;&lt;img height="77" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/cube%203%20views%20copy.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Octahedron&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img height="108" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/octahedron-metatron.jpg" width="216" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="75" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/Octahedron%203%20views%20copy.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Dodecahedron&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img height="106" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/dodecahedron-metatron.jpg" width="216" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="73" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/dodecahedron%203%20views%20copy.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Icosahedron&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;img height="124" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/icosahedron-metatron.jpg" width="216" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;img height="72" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/icosahedron%203%20views%20copy.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;The 5 Platonic solids are ideal, primal models of crystal patterns that occur throughout the world of minerals in countless variations. These are the only five regular polyhedra, that is, the only five solids made from the same equilateral, equiangular polygons. They have the same face shape on every side and only 1 angle per edge. All other shapes have different faces and/or angles. Also, if you spin any of these 5 shapes around its center point, its corners will describe a perfect sphere. The Platonic Solids occur in the crystal world. Working with them connects us to nature and the higher realms of the cosmos, especially those attributes associated closely with each polyhedron.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;Each of these shapes has metaphysical properties, making them valuable tools for meditation and rituals.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Tetrahedron is the four-sided (pyramid.( Each side is a triangle. (The pyramids of Egypt, Central America &amp;amp; elsewhere are five sided pyramids--four sloping triangular sides and a flat square/rectangular base.) It represents the powers of manifestation &amp;amp; creation, the element of Fire, the color Red and the Solar Plexus (third) chakra. Can help you burn through problems. It is masculine.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Cube (Hexahedron) is the six-sided box. Each side is a square. It grounds the creation of the Tetrahedron into the physical realm. It represents the element of Earth, the color Green and the Base (first) chakra. Use for grounding. It is masculine.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Octahedron is the eight-sided diamond. Each side is a triangle. It represents love, the heart and compassion, integration, the 8-fold path to Enlightenment, the element of Air, the color yellow and the Heart (4th) chakra. It can help you move forward. It represents your inner child.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Dodecahedron is the twelve-sided ball with the pentagon faces. It represents the 12 faces of the God/dess within, Ascension, Mystery school teachings, the color Gold, the element Ether/Spirit and the higher chakras (8-12 and up). It connects you to the universal life force. It is female.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Icosahedron is the twenty-sided ball with the triangular faces. It represents prayer, transformation, the color blue, the Naval (2nd) chakra and the element Water. It can help you sustain focus and momentum. It is female.&lt;ul&gt;Each of the five platonic solids carries special teachings. The tetrahedron invokes the power of manifestation and the cube grounds that creation in our bodies and this reality. Our core heart is found in the octahedron as an expression of self love and compassion. Prayer is invoked in the form of the icosahedron. The twelve faces of 'God within' are discovered in the dodecahedron.&lt;br /&gt;Four of the five platonic solids embody the number thirteen. The cube and octahedron have twelve edges or lines surrounding one center. The icosahedron has twelve corners around one and the dodecahedron has twelve faces around one.&lt;br /&gt;The only solid not supporting this is the tetrahedron and when two tetrahedrons are joined (star tetrahedron) there are twelve edges around one. More about the star tetrahedron in a moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Platonic Solid&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Edges&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Corners&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Faces&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Total&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Numerology&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Tetrahedron&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;14&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;5&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Cube&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Octahedron&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;6&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;26&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Icosahedron&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;30&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;20&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;62&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Dodecahedron&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;30&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;20&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;62&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;Star Tetrahedron&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;12&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;8&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;n/a&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td style="font-size: 16px;"&gt;n/a&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;There is a 6th mystical shape, also found within Metatron’s cube. This is the star tetrahedron, made up of 2 tetrahedrons. This powerful shape is also called a Merkaba. It is basically a 3 dimensional Star of David. It contains within it the geometry of the cube, the octahedron and the tetrahedron. The word Merkaba, in ancient Egypian, is translated as MER: rotating fields of light, KA: spirit, and BA: soul and in Hebrew it means 'chariot'.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height="125" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/star-tetrahedron-metatron.jpg" width="216" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Everyone knows about auras. You can get the colors of your aura photographed or looked at by a psychic. What a lot of people don’t know is that your aura isn’t really a shapeless blob. It’s the shape of a star tetrahedron. Three of them, actually.&lt;br /&gt;Stand up straight. Hold out your arms. Your static field is a hand’s width past the edge of your finger tips and the top point of that field is one hand’s width above your head and the bottom of that field is one hand’s width below your feet. These are your hands’ widths so for each person it’s slightly different.&lt;br /&gt;Running from top to bottom is a tube, the pranic tube, which carries energy from both earth and sky into your physical body. It is as big as the circle made by your thumb and forefinger. The top of the pranic tube is your soul star chakra, and the bottom of your pranic tube is your earth star chakra. These lead into your crown and root chakras (which also point straight up and down, unlike the other five, which point front and back). Your root and crown chakras are actually two ends of the same tube, and the energy running through it is changed as it passes the other 5 horizontal chakras.&lt;br /&gt;The alignment of the static star tetrahedron in your aura depends on your gender. If you are male, the point of the sun tetrahedron is in front of you, the flat part behind you. If you are female, the flat part of the sun tetrahedron is in front of you and the point behind you. These star tetrahedrons do not rotate. They represent your physical body and are neutral.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height="288" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/merkaba-positioning-male-fe.jpg" width="288" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;There are two more star tetrahedrons in your aura. The term “merkaba” refers to all 3 of these star tetrahedrons together.&lt;br /&gt;One star tetrahedron is male and electrical in energy and it rotates counter clockwise (to the left), and relates to your mental/logical thinking. The other star tetrahedron is female and magnetic and it rotates clockwise (to the right) and relates to your emotional thinking.&lt;br /&gt;Meditating with the merkaba activates the left and right brain together, raising your consciousness level. It brings dualities into balance—male and female; heaven and earth; everything that is yin and that is yang. You can, with practice, use the Merkaba field to lift your consciousness to higher realms.&lt;br /&gt;When you meditate and use any kind of breathing method, you should be aware of the breath and energy going in through both ends of the pranic tube and meeting in your heart. It’s almost like pumping up your heart, it gets bigger and bigger with each breath until it explodes into light from all the combined energies of earth and sky. When you visualize that happening and you’re working with the merkaba, the ball of light that surrounds you should look like a flower of life sphere in rainbow colors.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height="288" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/FOL%20sphere%20with%20man%20copy.png" width="288" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One of the many things you can do with all these wonderful shapes is make crystal grids. This is a layout of crystals chosen for a specific purpose, placed in sacred geometry-based patterns to connect, clear, amplify, generate and re-direct energy. Crystal grids help to better formulate and ground intent, then assist to spread and manifest the sole purpose of that intent. Working with crystals and sacred geometry together can raise our vibration, clear physical and emotional blockages, expand our perception and reconnect us with Source.&lt;br /&gt;You can use as the base the whole Flower of Life shape, and place a crystal on each line crossing. Or you can use a Metatron’s cube and concentrate on whichever of the Platonic Solid shapes (or the Star Tetrahedron) you feel the need to connect to. You can purchase sets of Platonic Solid crystal shapes and Star Tetrahedrons to use in the grids (or just hold the single shape you need). You can make permanent grids by gluing the crystals in place and keep them in your car or in certain places in your home, as needed. Build them with a clear intention and purpose in mind.&lt;br /&gt;Star Tetrahedron grids are multipurpose. If you want to concentrate energy, and bring energy in from above and below, point the crystals toward the center. If you want to spread energy over a large area, point the crystals outward.&lt;br /&gt;This is a quickie grid I put together for this lecture, using a star tetrahedron in Metatron's Cube. In the center is a large amethyst star tetrahedron (which is for sale!&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/contact.html" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Contact me&lt;/a&gt;) surrounded by long singing laser quartz crystals and small Herkimer-type quartz.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height="201" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/crystalgrid.png" width="216" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No matter what shape you use, activate the grid in the same way. Join up all the crystals in the pattern you laid, using your finger, a special crystal, or a wand. Do it 3 or 9 times, concentrating on bringing energy in from above and below, and putting the energy toward whatever purpose you built the grid. If you know Reiki or anything similar use that energy as well to program and empower the grid.&lt;br /&gt;You can build them for healing yourself or for healing someone else, for protection, or any other positive thing you can think of. You can put a piece of paper under the grid with the person’s name or photo, or with your affirmation written out (always phrased in the present time, and with gratitude).&lt;br /&gt;You should recharge and empower the grid at least once a day until it has served its purpose and then take it apart, and cleanse the crystals, freeing them of the programming.&lt;br /&gt;I offer for sale sets of crystal Platonic solids and loose merkaba crystals of all sizes, from $10 up. There is no page for these;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/contact.html" style="color: #999999;"&gt;contact me&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;if you're interested.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left" class="style1"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Looping animation of Metatron's Cube, the Platonic Solids and the star merkaba:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left" class="style1"&gt;&lt;img alt="looping animation of sacred geometry" height="273" src="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/sac_geo/metatrons-cube-ANIMATION.gif" width="244" /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left" class="style1"&gt;All these fold-up Platonic Solid &amp;amp; star tetrahedron patterns are (c) by&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.geometrycode.com/" style="color: #999999;" target="_blank"&gt;Bruce Rawlins&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;from his excellent&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Sacred Geometry Sourcebook&lt;/em&gt;, which I HIGHLY recommend. They are all PDFs requiring the&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://get.adobe.com/reader/" style="color: #999999;" target="_blank"&gt;free Adobe Reader&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/star_tetrahedron_fold_up.pdf" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Star Tetrahedron fold up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/tetrahedron_fold_up.pdf" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Tetrahedron fold up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/hexahedron-cube_fold_up.pdf" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Hexahedron fold up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/octahedron_fold_up.pdf" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Octahedron fold up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/dodecahedron_fold_up.pdf" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Dodecahedron fold up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.obsidianbutterfly.com/assets/articles/Icosohedron_Fold__up.pdf" style="color: #999999;"&gt;Icosohedron fold up&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2138. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2139. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2140.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">flower of life</category>
2141.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">merkaba</category>
2142.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">metatrons cube</category>
2143.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sacred geometry</category>
2144.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">star tetrahedron</category>
2145.      <pubDate>Sun, 26 Aug 2012 18:41:00 GMT</pubDate>
2146.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2147.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-9082915035797524265</guid>
2148.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2149.      <dc:date>2012-08-26T18:41:00Z</dc:date>
2150.    </item>
2151.    <item>
2152.      <title>please vote for my other blog!</title>
2153.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2012/02/please-vote-for-my-other-blog.html</link>
2154.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2155.      <content:encoded>&lt;a href="http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/alzheimers-dad/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Alzheimer's Dad is a nominee in the SeniorHomes.com Best of the Web 2012."&gt;&lt;img height="185" src="http://www.seniorhomes.com/images/best-of-web-2012/nominee-large.png" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please vote for my Alzheimer's Blog so I can be a finalist! &amp;nbsp; Simple like the page below (the link) on Facebook or +1 on google.&lt;i&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/i&gt;Or you can share on Blogger or other popular formats.&lt;i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Congratulations from SeniorHomes.com!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Alzheimer's Dad has been nominated to the SeniorHomes.com Best of the Web 2012 in the Best Senior Living Blogs by Individuals category. The Best of the Web 2012 contest highlights the best senior living and caregiving websites, blogs, and resources on the web for consumers and senior living professionals.  Your nominee page has been published at &lt;a href="http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/alzheimers-dad"&gt;http://www.seniorhomes.com/d/alzheimers-dad&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;The top nominee sites by popular vote will proceed to the round of finalists and will be rated by our panel of expert judges. Final rankings will be decided by the expert panel ratings.  In order to become a finalist, we encourage you to promote your website and get the vote out. Spread the word about your nomination by sharing your nominee page with your clients, customers, friends, and fans and asking for their votes. Finalists are determined by popular vote (total Facebook likes and Google +1s), so each person can vote for you twice! Voting ends on March 2, 2012.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2156. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2157. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2158.      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:43:00 GMT</pubDate>
2159.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2160.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-8710796587974190628</guid>
2161.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2162.      <dc:date>2012-02-09T21:43:00Z</dc:date>
2163.    </item>
2164.    <item>
2165.      <title>Avoiding the holidays (rant)</title>
2166.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/12/avoiding-holidays-rant.html</link>
2167.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2168.      <content:encoded>There are a lot of reasons why I don't like the holidays.&amp;nbsp; I'm not a Christian anymore and the constant refrain of the Christers, as I call them, is mentally exhausting.&amp;nbsp; Keep CHRIST in CHRISTMAS they scream on billboards and on Facebook and in person,&amp;nbsp; not caring or knowing that most "Christmas" rituals were stolen from older pagan traditions.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; These people get royally offended at the generic greeting of Happy Holidays and don't seem to understand that Happy Holidays includes everyone, while Merry Christmas excludes everyone who doesn't worship Jesus. To me, one is friendly, the other rude.&amp;nbsp; Do what you want with your Jesus but keep him out of my face.&lt;br /&gt;What elements of Christmas, you ask, are taken from pagans?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The son of a god being born at the winter solstice--the feast of Osiris (ancient Egypt), who was the son of a god and who died and was resurrected, was on 12/25.&amp;nbsp; Mithras (ancient Rome) was also born on the solstice, died and was buried and resurrected, and I believe he also might have been born of a virgin but don't quote me on that. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Evergreen tree--Druids of ancient England decorated trees to celebrate the winter solstice.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Mistletoe kissing--a pagan fertility practice.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Santa--modern Santa was pretty much invented by Coca-Cola and I never understood what he had to do with Jesus.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;I don't have any idea where presents came from but not from Jesus.&amp;nbsp; All my presents when I was little came from Santa, Jesus never gave me anything. &lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;Just a few of the many.&lt;br /&gt;The Jesus hysteria, of course, is a big one that makes me want to crawl into a turtle shell around Thanksgiving and not come out.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Another is holiday music.&amp;nbsp; Even on the radio, on stations that usually play lovely loud rock music, they are playing those same rock bands warbling mournfully about the holidays in a way that should truly offend anyone of any sense and taste, of any religion.&lt;br /&gt;Of course, my Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), triggered by the loss of light leading up to the winter solstice, makes everything that much worse.&amp;nbsp; The turtle shell idea is that much more inviting--I don't want to come out and why should I? &lt;br /&gt;The thought of entering any store during that same time period is anathema to me.&amp;nbsp; I don't want presents.&amp;nbsp; I can't afford to reciprocate and I don't want more STUFF.&amp;nbsp; I spent last year de-cluttering my house, why should I junk it back up with stuff I don't want or need?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; People desperate to get the latest, greatest, hottest STUFF, the must-have stuff, the looks on their faces as they pay with charge cards and layaway and their mortgage money just makes me ill.&lt;br /&gt;I try to take a step back and allow others to play out their karma and their own lives while I hide. I think about how much fun I'll be having a year from now as Baktun 12 winds down and for probably the only time in my life, everyone talks about the Mayan calendar.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Happy Winter Solstice.&amp;nbsp; Enjoy whatever holiday your like, in your own way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2169. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2170. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2171.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">13th Baktun</category>
2172.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">holidays</category>
2173.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">pagan</category>
2174.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rant</category>
2175.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">solstice</category>
2176.      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:15:00 GMT</pubDate>
2177.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2178.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-7956704247677131757</guid>
2179.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2180.      <dc:date>2011-12-19T20:15:00Z</dc:date>
2181.    </item>
2182.    <item>
2183.      <title>3 new Jaguar Nights volumes!</title>
2184.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/11/3-new-jaguar-nights-volumes.html</link>
2185.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rUtWoCbl0R8/TsvzGAwZDTI/AAAAAAAAAUk/JAPFPe4twRo/s72-c/JaguarNightsFrontWeb.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
2186.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2187.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rUtWoCbl0R8/TsvzGAwZDTI/AAAAAAAAAUk/JAPFPe4twRo/s1600/JaguarNightsFrontWeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rUtWoCbl0R8/TsvzGAwZDTI/AAAAAAAAAUk/JAPFPe4twRo/s200/JaguarNightsFrontWeb.jpg" width="130" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Jaguar Nights: A Journey Through the Tzolkin&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My 592-page book on the Tzolkin, is available through me or from Amazon.&amp;nbsp; A Kindle edition is coming soon.&amp;nbsp; $30.00&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;The Mesoamerican Tzolkin is a beautiful and simple calendar as well as a system of astrology and divination. Jaguar Nights is a uniquely organized reference book devoted to this sacred 260-day cycle. Each of the 260 days has two entire pages of comprehensive information. No flipping pages to figure out what everything means! It includes advanced information on how to use the calendar for divination augury, relationship compatibility, rituals, astrology, and how to find significant dates (electional astrology), all fully explained. Includes 92 years of correlation date charts (1930–2022). The Tzolkin holds the keys to many doors and to life cycles previously unnoticed. Use Jaguar Nights for two Tzolkin cycles as a personal diary and energy tracker, and as a reference for many years. When you immerse yourself in these alternate time cycles, the world starts to look different. You relate in a new way, you see patterns that you never noticed before. Learn to define your place in the great spiral of time, and find your relationship to the cosmos, with the Tzolkin. Step out of your world for a little while, and find a new set of rhythms to live by.&amp;nbsp; &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Jaguar Nights: A Journey Through the Tzolkin  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"&gt;&lt;input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" /&gt;&lt;input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="GKXEF44ULLETJ" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;input name="on0" type="hidden" value="Jaguar Nights: Journey" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;input maxlength="200" name="os0" type="text" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" name="submit" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynowCC_LG.gif" type="image" /&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;or &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-Exploring-Mayan-Aztec-Calendar/dp/1466214341/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1321987738&amp;amp;sr=8-11" target="_blank"&gt;Jaguar Nights: Journey on Amazon&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/form&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"&gt;&lt;input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" /&gt;&lt;input name="hosted_button_id" type="hidden" value="9SAFP8XCPWV6J" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2EjR3ENtvU/TsvzL4I7nUI/AAAAAAAAAUs/zgI1haTa5_M/s1600/JaguarNights2012_cover_WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2EjR3ENtvU/TsvzL4I7nUI/AAAAAAAAAUs/zgI1haTa5_M/s200/JaguarNights2012_cover_WEB.jpg" width="140" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;input name="on0" type="hidden" value="Jaguar Nights 2012" /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Jaguar Nights 2012&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;Jaguar Nights 2012 incorporates some new information from the big book. Jaguar Nights 2012 is $16 for a 62-page desk/purse calendar (8.5x5.5"). Each day has the Mayan Long Count, Haab and Tzolkin information, the sacred 260 count, the Aztec Xiuhpohualli (equivalent to the Haab) and Tonalpohualli (equivalent to the Tzolkin), as well as a countdown to 2012. All Tzolkin/Tonalpohualli dates numbered 1, 7, 8, and 13 (the sacred numbers) have energy readings, plus each month has the moon cycles and holidays (national, fun and pagan as well as a few from other religions).&amp;nbsp;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kindle edition coming soon. &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;input maxlength="200" name="os0" type="text" /&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;input alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" name="submit" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynowCC_LG.gif" type="image" /&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;or &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-2012-Mayan-Aztec-Calendar/dp/146645637X/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1321987738&amp;amp;sr=8-13" target="_blank"&gt;Jaguar Nights 2012 on Amazon &lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/form&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VyB4qm8di80/Tsvz3F5GbEI/AAAAAAAAAU0/YLOqUGPY9mY/s1600/cover_color_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VyB4qm8di80/Tsvz3F5GbEI/AAAAAAAAAU0/YLOqUGPY9mY/s200/cover_color_web.jpg" width="133" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Jaguar Nights Companion #1: Reverse Tzolkin Ephemeris &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;This e-book is part of the Jaguar Nights series of calendars and books. It is a reverse ephemeris—instead of looking up a Gregorian calendar date to find which Tzolkin date it is, all the Gregorian dates from 1900 to 2060 are ranked by Tzolkin date. Find out when a Tzolkin date last happened and when it will happen again. This can be useful for interpreting divination results, electional astrology, personal guidance, journaling, daykeeping, and more.  This is not meant to be a stand-alone book; you need knowledge of the sacred 260-day Tzolkin calendar of the Maya to utilize the information. Only $5. &lt;/i&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-Exploring-Mayan-Aztec-Calendar/dp/1466214341/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1321987738&amp;amp;sr=8-11" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-2012-Mayan-Aztec-Calendar/dp/146645637X/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1321987738&amp;amp;sr=8-13" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jaguar-Nights-Companion-Companions-ebook/dp/B00682ZS74/ref=sr_1_14?s=digital-text&amp;amp;ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1321978188&amp;amp;sr=1-14" target="_blank"&gt;Reverse Tzolkin Ephemeris on Amazon Kindle&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_352814002_3?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;docId=1000493771&amp;amp;pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;amp;pf_rd_s=center-6&amp;amp;pf_rd_r=1M4WPAP0KH49G844QM4C&amp;amp;pf_rd_t=1401&amp;amp;pf_rd_p=1279039382&amp;amp;pf_rd_i=1000426311" target="_blank"&gt;Download a free Kindle Reader app here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;hr&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2188. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2189. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2190.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2012</category>
2191.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aztec calendar</category>
2192.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">books</category>
2193.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">calendar</category>
2194.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Jaguar Nights</category>
2195.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">kindle</category>
2196.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan calendar</category>
2197.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">tzolkin</category>
2198.      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:59:00 GMT</pubDate>
2199.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2200.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-6494481356251249388</guid>
2201.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2202.      <dc:date>2011-11-22T18:59:00Z</dc:date>
2203.    </item>
2204.    <item>
2205.      <title>11/11/11 Welcome to the 11th gate</title>
2206.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/11/111111-welcome-to-11th-gate.html</link>
2207.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CKxyc8Guqd8/Tr0-0XhebFI/AAAAAAAAAUc/MEYZAOuvfyI/s72-c/1111.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
2208.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2209.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CKxyc8Guqd8/Tr0-0XhebFI/AAAAAAAAAUc/MEYZAOuvfyI/s1600/1111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CKxyc8Guqd8/Tr0-0XhebFI/AAAAAAAAAUc/MEYZAOuvfyI/s200/1111.jpg" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Today is the 11th gate, the "big one" we've all been waiting for since the series of gates started on 1/1/1 (which seems so long ago).&amp;nbsp; There are two more gates, of course, 12/12/12 and the final 12/21/2012 which initiates Baktun 13 in the Mayan Long Count calendar.&lt;br /&gt;In numerology, 11 is a master number.&amp;nbsp; It signifies you plus God (whoever you think God is).&amp;nbsp; So today is a godly day, multiplied. (22 is also a master number, and in some numerology systems so are 33 and 44, but we only have 13 gates so it won't get that high!&amp;nbsp; Maybe on 02/22/2022 something will happen.)&lt;br /&gt;It's a time of global and personal activation, of energy upgrades.&amp;nbsp; Take everything in and transform.&lt;br /&gt;This series of 13 gates is unique because usually a galactic gate opens and then closes.&amp;nbsp; In 1999 there was one that opened between 2 blue moons (opened on the first one, closed on the second one) and the energy was crazy--but temporary.&amp;nbsp; These gates, however, are permanent.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Each one builds on the energies and changes of the one(s) that came before.&lt;br /&gt;So even if you don't think you feel anything, or don't understand what's going on, that's okay.&amp;nbsp; You won't miss anything--it's happening even if you don't know it.&amp;nbsp; The crazy occupy wall street thing? I'm sure that's part of the changes.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://ascension-temple.com/the-meaning-of-1111.html"&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt; &amp;amp; more information on 11:11)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2210. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2211. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2212.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2012</category>
2213.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">energy</category>
2214.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">gate</category>
2215.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">long count</category>
2216.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan calendar</category>
2217.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">numerology</category>
2218.      <pubDate>Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:08:00 GMT</pubDate>
2219.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2220.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-5789799587161704434</guid>
2221.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2222.      <dc:date>2011-11-11T15:08:00Z</dc:date>
2223.    </item>
2224.    <item>
2225.      <title>10-28-2011--Calleman's calendar end</title>
2226.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/10/10-28-2011-callemans-calendar-end.html</link>
2227.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ioeWPxO9EA/TqrBsa2pxLI/AAAAAAAAAUM/ORnnYjqUdSU/s72-c/the-end-of-the-mayan-calendar.jpeg" height="72" width="72" />
2228.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
2229.      <content:encoded>Today is finally here.&amp;nbsp; On this particular 13-Ahau, out of all the 13-Ahauob around 12-21-2012, Calleman picked this one, today, to be HIS idea of the "end" of the Mayan calendar.&amp;nbsp; (Why not 14-July 2012?)&lt;br /&gt;I'm waiting.&amp;nbsp; The sun is shining.&amp;nbsp; It's a little cold out. &amp;nbsp; No end seems to be in sight.&lt;br /&gt;Calleman's fractal concept of the Long Count is that the 13 Baktuns (we are coming to the end of Baktun 12) equal the 13 Heavens.&amp;nbsp; But somehow he has also &lt;a href="http://www.calleman.com/content/articles/End_of_calendar_SolarFlares_and_EarthChanges.htm"&gt;decided&lt;/a&gt; that the Tzolkin ends today.&amp;nbsp; As in, tomorrow is NOT 1-Imix, but nothing.&amp;nbsp; Huh? &amp;nbsp; But then he hedges and says maybe it will continue.&amp;nbsp; I really don't pretend to understand his interpretation of the calendars.&amp;nbsp; It SOUNDS good on the surface, especially if you don't have any background, but when you really sit and think about it, it's all illogical.&lt;br /&gt;His claim:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;(T)he universe attains its highest quantum state and creates a new stage for life (at the top of the nine-storied pyramid). It is thus a common misunderstanding that a “new” cycle will begin after the calendar comes to an end. This is a misunderstanding because what is coming to an end is not a cycle to begin with, but nine linear directed evolutionary waves. The only aspect of the prophetic Mayan calendar system that may be described as cyclical is the 260 day tzolkin and this is the only cycle that will come to an end.  &lt;/div&gt;I have no idea what that means.&amp;nbsp; He goes on to say that&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;,Courier,monospace;"&gt;This would likely mean an abrupt end to all future energetic regulation  of our lives and actions and a sort of freedom shock. Life would be  lived fully moment by moment by moment and each moment would be an  eternity that would not be organically linked to other moments.&lt;/div&gt;I thought we were all supposed to be living in the moment already?&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You know what the sad thing is?&amp;nbsp; There really are AWESOME fractals in the Tzolkin.&amp;nbsp; I wish I could love his ideas, but they don't quite click for me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ioeWPxO9EA/TqrBsa2pxLI/AAAAAAAAAUM/ORnnYjqUdSU/s1600/the-end-of-the-mayan-calendar.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3ioeWPxO9EA/TqrBsa2pxLI/AAAAAAAAAUM/ORnnYjqUdSU/s400/the-end-of-the-mayan-calendar.jpeg" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;I wonder if he will go away tomorrow or jump online to post about today?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2011/02/09/universal-cycle-co-creation-and-february-10-and-october-28-2011/"&gt;image source&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2230. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2231. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2232.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">13 Ahau</category>
2233.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2012</category>
2234.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">calleman</category>
2235.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan calendar</category>
2236.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">tzolkin</category>
2237.      <pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:53:00 GMT</pubDate>
2238.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2239.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-1061433632191806835</guid>
2240.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2241.      <dc:date>2011-10-28T14:53:00Z</dc:date>
2242.    </item>
2243.    <item>
2244.      <title>Elongated skulls and brainpower</title>
2245.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/10/elongated-skulls-and-brainpower.html</link>
2246.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zJ-ijiOYBaQ/Tqq4hBylnEI/AAAAAAAAAUE/cxyckr1vwdc/s72-c/skullmashups.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
2247.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
2248.      <content:encoded>&lt;table align="right"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zJ-ijiOYBaQ/Tqq4hBylnEI/AAAAAAAAAUE/cxyckr1vwdc/s1600/skullmashups.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zJ-ijiOYBaQ/Tqq4hBylnEI/AAAAAAAAAUE/cxyckr1vwdc/s400/skullmashups.jpg" width="276" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;I was watching Ancient Aliens last night.&amp;nbsp; (My husband remarked, "is this show a training course for crazy people?")&amp;nbsp; Honestly the topics all run together but this one, as many of their episodes do, featured the elongated skulls of some ancient Egyptians and also people from Peru.&amp;nbsp; According to the show, either the elongated-skull people are ALIENS or they are trying to look like ALIENS.&amp;nbsp; Now I think there just might be ALIENS don't get me wrong and perhaps they visited the planet a few times, but &lt;b&gt;everything from the past is not freaking ALIENS&lt;/b&gt;.&amp;nbsp; The show is funny, though.&lt;br /&gt;Back to long skulls.I don't really care if the people with long skulls were alien or human or hybrid. I'm interested in the INSIDE of those skulls.&amp;nbsp; What did their brains look like?&amp;nbsp; Were they smarter or dumber than people with regular round heads?&amp;nbsp; What was the size of their brain case vs round skulls?&amp;nbsp; I know they can do this with tiny pellets, come on, hasn't any anthropologist ever wondered?&amp;nbsp; I put together this picture of a regular brain and a Peruvian mummy skull from a couple of sources and &lt;b&gt;it seems evident to me that these people should have had HUGE brains,&lt;/b&gt; right?&amp;nbsp; What part got bigger?&amp;nbsp; How did that change them?&amp;nbsp;  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;King Tut, his step-mother Nerfertiti and his sister (forgot her name) were all depicted with long, graceful skulls.&amp;nbsp; But if you look at his actual head next to a sculpture of him, it doesn't quite measure up, does it?&amp;nbsp; The angle isn't 100% but it's obvious that his head is more pointed and squat.&amp;nbsp; But clearly the head in the sculpture is achievable--look at the mummy from Peru.&amp;nbsp; So why was it important his people THOUGHT he had a big long head?&lt;br /&gt;Looking for "elongated skulls" on Google Images, quite a few photos of current people with long skulls come up.&amp;nbsp; Whether these people have naturally long heads or have been artificially deformed, I don't know, but I have to wonder if anyone has ever taking an MRI of their brains or one of those scans where they ask you to do math and memory problems and see what lights up.&amp;nbsp; Or get them to donate their bodies to science and dissect their brains.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is there a reason, besides aesthetics, to deform your skull?&amp;nbsp; Does it make you smarter, increase your memory, give you better math or verbal or spacial skills?&amp;nbsp; Or is there no brain in the extra space, just bone or fluid?&amp;nbsp; I found &lt;a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=_fQ3AAAAYAAJ&amp;amp;pg=PA425&amp;amp;dq=elongated+skull+brain&amp;amp;hl=en&amp;amp;ei=H7qqTvvVLKbW0QHa6ai2Dw&amp;amp;sa=X&amp;amp;oi=book_result&amp;amp;ct=result&amp;amp;resnum=10&amp;amp;ved=0CGgQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&amp;amp;q=elongated%20skull%20brain&amp;amp;f=false"&gt;one result&lt;/a&gt; on Google books which says it's "mere displacement of the brain" that "does not change intellect" but that baffles me.&amp;nbsp; That Peruvian head looks like it could fit two extra brains.&amp;nbsp; Then again, the book is from 1869.&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, lacking any formal training in physical anthropology, and also lacking any elongated skulls to work on, there isn't much I can do except wonder why someone who does have training and skulls isn't working on this.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;S&lt;/i&gt;&lt;i&gt;ources: &lt;a href="http://gizadeathstar.com/2011/01/peruvian-skull-may-shed-light-on-ancient-history/"&gt;skull w hair&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.thekeep.org/%7Ekunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/tutankhamen_lily.jpg"&gt;tut bust&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;a href="http://www.topfoto.co.uk/gallery/tutankhamun/images/thumbs/0638142.jpg"&gt;tut skull &amp;nbsp; &lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hilaryshepherd.com/rantsnraves/2007/09/01/man-loses-head-gets-four-thousand/"&gt;regular skull&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://troll.me/category/ancient-aliens-guy/"&gt;alien guy&lt;/a&gt; skull combinations by me&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://troll.me/images/ancient-aliens-guy/im-not-saying-it-was-aliens-but-it-was-aliens-thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://troll.me/images/ancient-aliens-guy/im-not-saying-it-was-aliens-but-it-was-aliens-thumb.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2249. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2250. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2251.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aliens</category>
2252.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">ancient aliens</category>
2253.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">anthropology</category>
2254.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">egypt</category>
2255.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">elongated skulls</category>
2256.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">king tut</category>
2257.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">peru</category>
2258.      <pubDate>Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:33:00 GMT</pubDate>
2259.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2260.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-7216641167351836841</guid>
2261.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2262.      <dc:date>2011-10-28T14:33:00Z</dc:date>
2263.    </item>
2264.    <item>
2265.      <title>Jaguar Nights: A Journey through the Tzolkin is almost ready</title>
2266.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/09/jaguar-nights-journey-through-tzolkin.html</link>
2267.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R7ThkkxUNq0/ToSx-GqkTMI/AAAAAAAAASo/ewpvXRYi2Sg/s72-c/JaguarNightsCover_WEB.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
2268.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2269.      <content:encoded>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R7ThkkxUNq0/ToSx-GqkTMI/AAAAAAAAASo/ewpvXRYi2Sg/s1600/JaguarNightsCover_WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R7ThkkxUNq0/ToSx-GqkTMI/AAAAAAAAASo/ewpvXRYi2Sg/s1600/JaguarNightsCover_WEB.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;The long-awaited full volume that inspired the yearly calendars, &lt;i&gt;Jaguar Nights: A Journey Through the Tzolkin, Explorations of the Mayan Sacred Calendar&lt;/i&gt;, is almost ready for shipment. (Around Thanksgiving.) Price will be about $30. Over 600 pages of exhaustive material on the sacred calendar.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;Back cover blurb:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;It’s About Time!&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Mesoamerican Tzolkin is a beautiful and simple calendar as well as a system of astrology and divination. Jaguar Nights is a uniquely organized reference book devoted to this sacred 260-day cycle. Each of the 260 days has two entire pages of comprehensive information. No flipping pages to figure out what everything means! It includes advanced information on how to use the calendar for divination augury, relationship compatibility, rituals, astrology, and how to find significant dates (electional astrology), all fully explained. Includes 92 years of correlation date charts (1930–2022). The Tzolkin holds the keys to many doors and to life cycles previously unnoticed. Use Jaguar Nights for two Tzolkin cycles as a personal diary and energy tracker, and as a reference for many years. When you immerse yourself in these alternate time cycles, the world starts to look different. You relate in a new way, you see patterns that you never noticed before. Learn to define your place in the great spiral of time, and find your relationship to the cosmos, with the Tzolkin. Step out of your world for a little while, and find a new set of rhythms to live by. &lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2270. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2271. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2272.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">2012</category>
2273.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">aztec calendar</category>
2274.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">books</category>
2275.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">calendar</category>
2276.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Jaguar Nights</category>
2277.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mayan calendar</category>
2278.      <pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:02:00 GMT</pubDate>
2279.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2280.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-9184377100592459626</guid>
2281.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2282.      <dc:date>2011-09-29T18:02:00Z</dc:date>
2283.    </item>
2284.    <item>
2285.      <title>823 years of BS, or why that rumor is wrong</title>
2286.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/05/823-years-of-bs-or-why-that-rumor-is.html</link>
2287.      <media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jXdv28pLYrM/TdVpsj8_u8I/AAAAAAAAASA/d-uJ4GZoDH4/s72-c/calendar6_web.jpg" height="72" width="72" />
2288.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">0</thr:total>
2289.      <content:encoded>You've probably gotten the email, or seen the Facebook post, about how this year (2011) is so incredibly rare and that it hasn't happened in 823 years (or won't happen again for 823 years).&lt;br /&gt;I honestly don't know how anyone with half a brain can fall for that.  Or forward it.&lt;br /&gt;Think logically.  We have SEVEN weekdays.  So January 1 can be on any of those days.  That's SEVEN different calendars.  But oh wait, there's leap year.  So you need another SEVEN calendars with February 29 on them. (But you can see that there's only 7 versions of January 1 through February 28.)&lt;br /&gt;That's a total of 14 calendars.  The 7 leap year ones, obviously, don't get used very often.  But 2011 isn't a leap year.  In fact, 2005 had the EXACT SAME CALENDAR (gasp) and it will come around again in 2022. It is not rare at all.  And I have no idea where the bogus 823 year figure comes from.  823 years ago was 1188.  This year, January 1 was on Saturday.  In 1188 it was on Friday--but it was a leap year, so it does correspond with our calendar from March 1 on.  (The point being that it's not the exact same calendar.)&lt;br /&gt;From &lt;a href="http://vpcalendar.net/"&gt;Virtual Perpetual Calendar&lt;/a&gt;, here is calendar 6 (this year's) and 200 years of occurrences.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jXdv28pLYrM/TdVpsj8_u8I/AAAAAAAAASA/d-uJ4GZoDH4/s1600/calendar6_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jXdv28pLYrM/TdVpsj8_u8I/AAAAAAAAASA/d-uJ4GZoDH4/s1600/calendar6_web.jpg" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please, please, please, STOP SENDING/POSTING this nonsense.&amp;nbsp; Or at least do it where I can't see it.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2290. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2291. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2292.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">823 years</category>
2293.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">calendar</category>
2294.      <category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">perpetual calendar</category>
2295.      <pubDate>Thu, 19 May 2011 19:05:00 GMT</pubDate>
2296.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2297.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-6018730650570092262</guid>
2298.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2299.      <dc:date>2011-05-19T19:05:00Z</dc:date>
2300.    </item>
2301.    <item>
2302.      <title>Free lecture by Gevera...Relationships in the Mayan Calendar</title>
2303.      <link>http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com/2011/02/free-lecture-by-geverarelationships-in.html</link>
2304.      <thr:total xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0">1</thr:total>
2305.      <content:encoded>&lt;b&gt;Relationship Aspects in the Sacred Mayan Calendar&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Starting a business? Thinking about getting married or adopting a child? Wondering about a new love relationship? There is a simple way, using the 260-day Sacred Mayan Calendar, to get a snapshot of the energy of two (or more) people, or even a person and a calendar day. Time permitting, relationships from the audience will be parsed.&lt;br /&gt;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&lt;br /&gt;I will be at the Astrological Society of Connecticut's New Age Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. selling calendars and crystals, and presenting a free lecture from 11 a.m. to noon. Admission to the fair and the lecture is FREE and the vendors are always great. You can also get a variety of readings and horoscopes.&lt;br /&gt;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&lt;br /&gt;Sunday, February 20 · 11:00am - 12:00pm&lt;br /&gt;Keeney Center&lt;br /&gt;200 Main Street&lt;br /&gt;Wethersfield, CT&lt;br /&gt;You may RSVP on &lt;a href="http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=fffbd093cf1e7e037fe05edd7578af21&amp;amp;#%21/event.php?eid=133413106725371"&gt;Facebook&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;hr /&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;http://ofsinitiate.blogspot.com
2306. (c) Gevera Bert Piedmont  })i({
2307. Thank you!&lt;/div&gt;</content:encoded>
2308.      <pubDate>Sun, 13 Feb 2011 20:54:00 GMT</pubDate>
2309.      <author>noreply@blogger.com</author>
2310.      <guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12406865.post-6528638529998475339</guid>
2311.      <dc:creator>GBP  })i({</dc:creator>
2312.      <dc:date>2011-02-13T20:54:00Z</dc:date>
2313.    </item>
2314.  </channel>
2315. </rss>
2316.  

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